The correlation of defect distribution in collisional phase with measured cascade collapse probability

Abstract

The spatial distributions of atomic displacement at the end of the collisional phase of cascade damage processes were calculated using the computer simulation code MARLOWE, which is based on the binary collision approximation (BCA). The densities of the atomic displacement were evaluated in high dense regions (HDRs) of cascades in several pure metals (Fe, Ni, Cu, Ag, Au, Mo and W). They were compared with the measured cascade collapse probabilities reported in the literature where TEM observations were carried out using thin metal foils irradiated by low-dose ions at room temperature. We found that there exists the minimum or “critical” values of the atomic displacement densities for the HDR to collapse into TEM-visible vacancy clusters. The critical densities are generally independent of the cascade energy in the same metal. Furthermore, the material dependence of the critical densities can be explained by the difference in the vacancy mobility at the melting temperature of target materials. This critical density calibration, which is extracted from the ion-irradiation experiments and the BCA simulations, is applied to estimation of cascade collapse probabilities in the metals irradiated by fusion neutrons.