Study of irradiation temperature effect on radiation-induced polymorphic transformation mechanisms in ZrO2 ceramics

Abstract

The influence of high-dose exposure to heavy Xe23+ ions on the alteration in optical and structural properties, alongside the polymorphic transformation degree in polycrystalline ZrO2 ceramics is considered in the paper. The focus on such studies is primarily due to the possibility of obtaining new data on the mechanisms of radiation-induced damage associated with exposure to heavy ions comparable to fission fragments of nuclear fuel, alongside the comparison of the observed changes in the damaged layer properties with the polymorphic transformation processes characteristic of ZrO2 ceramics. Analysis of the obtained data on alterations in the optical and structural features of ceramics contingent upon irradiation conditions revealed that, the irradiation temperature leads to less pronounced structural degradation caused by deformation distortions of OI-Zr-OI, Zr-OII, Zr-OI/OII and Zr-OI bonds, as well as the accumulation of oxygen vacancies in the damaged layer. At the same time, using a set of research methods, it was determined that at irradiation temperatures above 700 K the processes of polymorphic transformations t – ZrO2→ c – ZrO2 caused by radiation and deformation effects are less pronounced, which results in the formation of inclusions in the form of t – ZrO2.