Ion-Irradiation-Induced Damage in Nuclear Materials (eBook)

Diana Bachiller Perea studied Physics in the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) and obtained an Interuniversitary Master's Degree in Nuclear Physics in 2011. Her Thesis was carried out under joint supervision between the Center for Micro-Analysis of Materials (CMAM, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain) and the Centre de Sciences Nucléaires et de Sciences de la Matière (CSNSM, Université Paris-Sud, France). At present, she is working in the company Accelerators and Cryogenic Systems (ACS, Orsay, France) as a scientific expert in accelerators.​

Supervisors’ Foreword 7
Abstract 9
Scientific Output 10
Publications 10
Contributions to Conferences 11
Contents 13
Acronyms 17
1 Introduction 19
1.1 Motivation of the Thesis 19
1.2 Current State of Knowledge and Issues Addressed in this Work 23
1.2.1 Amorphous Silica 23
1.2.2 Magnesium Oxide 25
1.3 Description of the Chapters 26
References 28
Part I Materials and Methods 33
2 Studied Materials: a-SiO2 and MgO 34
2.1 Amorphous Silica (a-SiO2) 34
2.1.1 Structure of Amorphous SiO2 34
2.1.2 Point Defects in Amorphous SiO2 36
2.1.3 Calculation of the OH Concentration in Silica from Infrared Spectroscopic Measurements 38
2.2 Magnesium Oxide (MgO) 41
2.2.1 Point Defects in MgO 41
2.2.2 Impurities in the MgO Samples 43
References 44
3 Ion-Solid Interactions and Ion Beam Modification of Materials 47
3.1 Ion-Solid Interactions 47
3.1.1 Stopping Power and Ion Range 48
3.1.2 Calculations with SRIM 54
3.2 Ion Beam Modification of Materials and Ion Beam Analysis Techniques 57
3.2.1 Different Processes of Modification of Materials 57
3.2.2 Ion Beam Analysis Techniques 59
References 60
4 Experimental Facilities 62
4.1 Centro de Micro-Análisis de Materiales (CMAM) 64
4.2 Centre de Sciences Nucléaires et de Sciences de la Matière (CSNSM) 66
4.3 The Ion Beam Materials Laboratory (IBML) 69
References 71
5 Experimental Characterization Techniques 73
5.1 Ion Beam Induced Luminescence (IBIL) 73
5.2 Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) 79
5.2.1 Description of the RBS Technique 79
5.2.2 RBS in Channeling Configuration (RBS/C) 83
5.3 X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) 86
5.3.1 Crystalline Structures 86
5.3.2 Diffraction Phenomenon 88
5.3.3 Experimental Setup 92
References 95
Part II Ion Beam Induced Luminescence in Amorphous Silica 97
6 General Features of the Ion Beam Induced Luminescence in Amorphous Silica 98
6.1 General Features of the Ionoluminescence Signal in Silica at Room Temperature 98
6.2 Ionoluminescence in Silica at Low Temperature 101
6.3 Contribution of the Nuclear Stopping Power to the Ionoluminescence Signal 106
References 110
7 Ionoluminescence in Silica: Role of the Silanol Group Content and the Ion Stopping Power 112
7.1 IL Spectra 113
7.2 Kinetic Behavior for the IL 115
7.3 Dependence of the Maximum Intensity with the Stopping Power 120
7.4 Discussion 122
7.4.1 Role of the OH Content 122
7.4.2 Role of the Electronic Stopping Power 124
References 125
8 Exciton Mechanisms and Modeling of the Ionoluminescence in Silica 126
8.1 Kinetic Behavior for the IL: Correlation with Structural (Macroscopic) Damage 126
8.2 Physical Modeling of STE Dynamics and IL Mechanisms 131
8.3 Physical Discussion of the Experimental Results: Role of Network Straining 134
8.4 Mathematical Formulation of the IL Emission Kinetics: Damage Cross-Sections 136
References 138
Part III Ion-Irradiation Damage in MgO 140
9 MgO Under Ion Irradiation at High Temperatures 141
9.1 Full Damage Accumulation Process in MgO Irradiated with MeV Au Ions … 142
9.1.1 Disorder Depth Profiles 143
9.1.2 Damage Accumulation 143
9.1.3 Discussion 147
9.2 Study of the Initial Stages of Defect Generation in Ion-Irradiated … 152
9.2.1 Strain Evolution 152
9.2.2 Defect Concentration 155
9.2.3 Defect Generation Efficiency 158
9.3 Conclusions 159
References 159
10 Ion Beam Induced Luminescence in MgO 162
10.1 Main Features of the IL Spectrum of MgO 163
10.2 Analysis of the IL Spectra of MgO at 100K and at RT with H and Br 165
10.3 Kinetics of the Main IL Emissions 172
10.4 Discussion 176
References 178
11 Conclusions and Prospects for the Future 179
11.1 Ion Beam Induced Luminescence in Amorphous Silica 179
11.2 Ion-Irradiation Damage in MgO 180
11.3 Prospects for the Future 181
References 182
A Implantation of the Ionoluminescence Technique at the JANNuS-Saclay Laboratory 183
Appendix B Example of an Input and an Output File from SRIM 187
Appendix C Example of an Input File for TRIM 189
Appendix D Example of an Input File for McChasy Code 190