Recovery behavior of high purity cubic SiC polycrystals by post-irradiation annealing up to 1673 K after low temperature neutron irradiation

Abstract

Two kinds of high purity cubic (β) SiC polycrystals, PureBeta-SiC and CVD-SiC, were irradiated in the BR2 reactor (Belgium) up to a fluence of 2.0–2.5 × 1024 (E > 0.1 MeV) at 333–363 K. Changes in macroscopic lengths were examined by post-irradiation thermal annealing using a precision dilatometer up to 1673 K with a step-heating method. The specimen was held at each temperature step for 6 h and the change in length of the specimen was recorded during each isothermal annealing step from 373 K to 1673 K with 50 K increments. The recovery curves were analyzed with the first order model, and rate constants at each annealing step were obtained. Recovery of defects, induced by neutron irradiation in high purity β-SiC, has four stages of different activation energies. At 373–573 K, the activation energy of PureBeta-SiC and CVD-SiC was in the range of 0.17–0.24 eV and 0.12–0.14 eV; 0.002–0.04 eV and 0.006–0.04 eV at 723–923 K; 0.20–0.27 eV and 0.26–0.31 eV at 923–1223 K; and 1.37–1.38 eV and 1.26–1.29 eV at 1323–1523 K, respectively. Below ∼1223 K the recombination occurred possibly for closely positioned C and Si Frenkel pairs, and no long range migration is deemed essential. Nearly three-fourths of recovery, induced by neutron irradiation, occur by this mechanism. In addition, at 1323–1523 K, recombination of slightly separated C Frenkel pairs and more long-range migration of Si interstitials may have occurred for PureBeta-SiC and CVD-SiC specimens. Migration of both vacancies may be restricted up to ∼1523 K. Comparing to hexagonal α-SiC, high purity β-SiC recovered more quickly in the lower annealing temperature range of less than 873 K, in particular less than 573 K.