Microstructure evolution in Xe-irradiated UO2 at room temperature

L. F. He, J. Pakarinen, M. A. Kirk, J. Gan, A. T. Nelson, X. M. Bai, A. El-Azab, T. R. Allen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

In situ Transmission Electron Microscopy was conducted for single crystal UO2 to understand the microstructure evolution during 300 keV Xe irradiation at room temperature. The dislocation microstructure evolution was shown to occur as nucleation and growth of dislocation loops at low irradiation doses, followed by transformation to extended dislocation segments and tangles at higher doses. Xe bubbles with dimensions of 1-2 nm were observed after room-temperature irradiation. Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy indicated that UO2 remained stoichiometric under room temperature Xe irradiation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)55-60
Number of pages6
JournalNuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
Volume330
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1 2014
Externally publishedYes

Funding

This work was supported as part of the Center for Materials Science of Nuclear Fuel, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences. A portion of this research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy under DOE Idaho Operations Office Contract DE-AC07-051D14517. The in situ electron microscopy observation was accomplished at the Electron Microscopy Center for Materials Research at Argonne National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Laboratory operated under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357 by UChicago Argonne, LLC. We thank Peter M. Baldo of Argonne National Lab for his help in performing the irradiations.

Keywords

  • Dislocation
  • Inert gas bubble
  • Irradiation
  • Nuclear fuel
  • TEM

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