Experimental validation and application of primary radiation damage models near the displacement threshold

• Published in: Results in physics Vol. 51; p. 106781
• Main Author: Chen, Shengli
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.08.2023; Elsevier
• Subjects: Displacement damage cross section; Electron irradiation experiment; Model validation; Photon-induced displacement damage; Primary radiation damage model; Threshold displacement energy; Threshold displacement energy; Electron irradiation experiment; Photon-induced displacement damage; Displacement damage cross section; Primary radiation damage model; Model validation
• ISSN: 2211-3797; 2211-3797
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rinp.2023.106781

•Primary radiation damage models are validated against electron-induced experimental data.•Recent MD-based model is consistent with experimental data for Fe, Ni, and Cu.•Step function-approached displacement probability is shown adequate for Al and Ti.•Good agreement with not yet well supported rescaled experimental data is found for Ag.•Validated model of Fe increases photon-induced displacement damage by ∼1/3 in nuclear reactors. Radiation damage is a common challenge for materials employed in a radiation environment. The present work performs experimental validation of current primary radiation damage models for recoil energy near the displacement threshold using electron irradiation experimental measures. The verified rescaling of resistivity change per Frenkel pair results in reasonable agreements between theories and experiments. The recent molecular dynamics-based model is demonstrated as consistent with experimental data for Fe, Ni, and Cu, whereas the classical step function approximation of the displacement probability is shown more adequate for Al and Ti. Further investigation is needed for Ag due to the excellent agreement with the not yet well supported rescaled experimental data. The validated primary radiation damage model of Fe leads to a ∼1/3 increase in gamma photon-induced displacement damage in nuclear reactor applications.