Formation of nanosized hills on Ti3SiC2 oxide layer irradiated with swift heavy ions

NUCLEAR INSTRUMENTS & METHODS IN PHYSICS RESEARCH SECTION B-BEAM INTERACTIONS WITH MATERIALS AND ATOMS

卷:270

Article

Nappe, J. C.¹  Monnet, I.²  Audubert, F.³  Grosseau, Ph.¹  Beauvy, M.³  Benabdesselam, M.⁴ 

[1] Ecole Natl Super Mines, SPIN PMMC, LPMG UMR CNRS 5148, F-42023 St Etienne 2, France

[2] Univ Caen Basse Normandie, CIMAP, CEA, CNRS,ENSICAEN, F-14070 Caen 5, France

[3] CEA, DEN, DEC SPUA LTEC, F-13108 St Paul Les Durance, France

[4] Univ Nice Sophia Antipolis, LPMC UMR CNRS 6622, F-06108 Nice 2, France

关键词: Ti3SiC2;    Heavy ion irradiation;    Oxidation;    Atomic force microscopy;    Cross-sectional transmission electron;    microscopy;    X-ray photoelectron spectrometry;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.nimb.2011.09.027

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

The Ti3SiC2 refractory compound that combines properties of both metals and ceramics is a fuel cladding candidate under investigation for Gas-cooled Fast Reactor. Its behavior under swift heavy ion irradiation (Xe ions, 92 MeV, 10(19) m(-2)) was investigated. Significant and unexpected surface changes have been highlighted: hills have been observed by AFM on the surface of Ti3SiC2. Such a topographic modification has never been observed in other materials irradiated in similar conditions. The characterization of these hills by both XPS and X-TEM has highlighted that the surface modifications do not appear in Ti3SiC2 but in the amorphous oxide layer located on the sample surface before irradiation. Moreover, the thickness of this oxide layer grew under irradiation dose. The comparison with previous irradiations has led to the conclusion that this surface modification stems from electronic interactions in this amorphous layer, and that there is a threshold in the electronic stopping power to overcome to form hills. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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