Irradiation of materials with particles that are sufficiently energetic to create atomic displacements can induce significant microstructural alteration, ranging from crystalline-to-amorphous phase transitions to the generation of large concentrations of point defect or solute aggregates in crystalline lattices. These microstructural changes typically cause significant changes in the physical and mechanical properties of the irradiated material. A variety of advanced microstructural characterization tools are available to examine the microstructural changes induced by particle irradiation, including electron microscopy, atom probe field ion microscopy, X-ray scattering and spectrometry, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, nuclear reaction analysis, and neutron scattering and spectrometry. Numerous reviews, which summarize the microstructural changes in materials associated with electron and heavy ion or neutron irradiation, have been published. These reviews have focused on pure metals as well as model alloys, steels, and ceramic materials. In this chapter, the commonly observed defect cluster morphologies produced by particle irradiation are summarized and an overview is presented on some of the key physical parameters that have a major influence on microstructural evolution of irradiated materials. The relationship between microstructural changes and evolution of physical and mechanical properties is then summarized, with particular emphasis on eight key radiation-induced property degradation phenomena. Typical examples of irradiated microstructures of metals and ceramic materials are presented. Radiation-induced changes in the microstructure of organic materials such as polymers are not discussed in this overview.

Annotation Effects of Radiation on Materials: Fourteenth International Symposium was presented at Andover, MA, June 1988. The symposium was sponsored by ASTM Committee E-10 on Nuclear Technology and Applications. The papers from the first three days of the symposium appear in the two volumes of this publication. Volume I encompasses radiation damage- induced microstructures; point defect, solute, and gas atom effects; atomic-level measurement techniques; and applications of theory. Volume II includes mechanical behavior, all papers dealing with pressure-vessel steels, breeder reactor components, dosimetry, and nuclear fuels. The fourth day of the symposium was devoted to the single topic of reduced-activation materials (see TK9204). The two volumes are separately sold at $127 and $128 respectively; each is independently indexed. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

The focus of the symposium, which was held at the 1994 MRS Fall Meeting, was on the changes produced in the microstructure of metals, ceramics, and semiconductors by irradiation with energetic particles. This proceedings volume contains invited and contributed papers. Among the topics are computer simulation of displacement cascade damage in metals; radiation effects in ceramic insulators; and computer simulation of thermal annealing effects of self implanted silicon. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This book from MRS discusses the evolution of a material's microstructure as a result of its interaction with energetic particles such as ions, neutrons or electrons. The book is inter-disciplinary and emphasizes all classes of materials including metals, intermetallic compounds, ceramics, polymers, superconductors, semiconductors and insulators. A strong focus is placed on experimental techniques for measuring and quantifying damage and microstructure changes, and on computer simulation techniques for predicting and understanding this phenomena. Topics include: ion-implantation damage in semiconductors; radiation damage in metals; radiation damage in ceramics; radiation effects in polymers and beam-induced effects.

Advanced materials development for nuclear systems is currently a time and resource intensive process relying on many iterations of material exposure and destructive testing. There exist few methods for characterizing irradiated material performance in situ, during exposure. Techniques such as in situ TEM or in situ Raman spectroscopy can provide local structural information during irradiation, but no current methods can continuously monitor bulk thermal and mechanical properties. Such a tool would provide the ability to map dose-property relationships at a resolution not previously possible, enhancing mechanistic understanding of irradiation-induced evolution. These methods could also be used to identify the onset of emergent irradiation-induced effects such as the transition from incubation to steady-state void swelling. For this purpose, we have identified transient grating spectroscopy (TGS) as an appropriate technique to obtain these dose-property relationships during irradiation. This method, by optically inducing and monitoring monochromatic surface acoustic waves on materials under investigation, is able to determine the elastic and thermal transport properties of a microns-thick layer at the surface of a sample, the same depth to which ion beams can impose damage. First, we demonstrated that this method is sensitive enough to measure changes in material properties induced by radiation. Afterwards, we designed new optical geometries which enable second-scale time-resolved TGS measurements on dynamically changing materials. In addition, we developed new analytical methods through which multiple material properties, acoustic wave speed and thermal transport properties, may be extracted simultaneously from single-shot measurements. As proof-of-principle experiments, ion irradiation-induced property changes have been measured post-irradiation on pure, single crystal copper. In these copper samples, TGS measurements indicate the presence of volumetric void swelling, which is confirmed with scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). These developments together show that TGS is capable of capturing irradiation-induced evolution in real time and motivate the design and commissioning of an in situ experiment for ion beam irradiation and TGS monitoring. To this end, an in situ TGS beamline experiment for concurrent ion beam irradiation and property monitoring has been developed on the 6 MV tandem accelerator at the Ion Beam Laboratory at Sandia National Laboratories. The in situ ion irradiation TGS (I3TGS) facility has the ability to monitor material evolution at high temperatures in real time under ion bombardment. Using high-energy self-ions, we are studying radiation damage effects on the thermomechanical properties of pure metals. In these experiments, irradiation-induced void swelling has been monitored at an orders-of-magnitude finer dose resolution than is possible with traditional methods. This tool has allowed the onset of swelling to be pinpointed in applied dose, a key consideration when developing new materials for use in nuclear systems, on the timescale of days rather than months or years. We are now able to provide the type of rapid, engineering-relevant data necessary to speed the innovation cycle in nuclear materials development. Moving forward, these methods can be used as a screening tool to expedite the design and testing process for advanced nuclear materials.