Amorphization of Zr3Fe under electron irradiation

A. T. Motta, L. M. Howe, P. R. Okamoto

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

The intermetallic compound Zr3Fe has been made amorphous by 0.9 MeV electron irradiation. By performing this irradiation in situ, it was possible to conduct a systematic study of the influence of temperature, dose rate, electron energy and specimen orientation on the amorphization process. The critical temperature and the critical dose for amorphization were determined, and shown to depend on dose rate. By varying electron energy, we determined the displacement energies for the Zr and Fe atoms in Zr3Fe, and showed that, at low electron energy, the amorphization rate is dependent on specimen orientation. We analyze these results in terms of a model based on amorphization occurring at a damage level where the modified free energy of the irradiated crystal exceeds the free energy of the amorphous phase. This model is shown to predict the amorphization kinetics, i.e. the critical temperature and critical dose for amorphization. We also compare amorphization induced by electron and ion irradiation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)174-186
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Nuclear Materials
Volume270
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1 1999

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics
  • General Materials Science
  • Nuclear Energy and Engineering

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