Radiation effects on MgAlO-yttria stabilized ZrO composite material irradiated with Ne ions at high temperatures

Hojo, Tomohiro*; Yamamoto, Hiroyuki; Aihara, Jun ; Furuno, Shigemi*; Sawa, Kazuhiro; Sakuma, Takashi*; Hojo, Kiichi

Spinel and yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) are candidates for fuel materials for use in nuclear reactors and the optical and insulating materials for fusion reactors. In the present study, the damage evolution process of polycrystalline spinel-YSZ composite materials has been studied by in situ transmission electron microscope observation during ion irradiation. The irradiation was performed with 30 keV Ne at a flux of 5 10 ions/cm per second at 923 K and 1473 K, respectively. At 923 K, defect clusters and bubbles were formed homogeneously in YSZ grains. On the other hand, at 1473 K, only bubble formation was observed. The bubbles grew remarkably with increasing ion fluence in both grains. Even though the growth of the bubbles was observed in both grains, the average diameter of grown bubbles in spinel grains was larger than those in YSZ ones. The bubbles tended to form along the grain boundary at both temperatures.