Ion-track formation in UO irradiated with high-energy heavy ions

Ishikawa, Norito   ; Sonoda, Takeshi*; Sawabe, Takashi*; Sugai, Hiroyuki; Sataka, Masao

One of the intriguing characteristics of the radiation damages due to high-energy ion irradiation in UO is the formation of continuous ion-tracks along ion-paths. It is expected that one of the determining factors of ion-track size is the electronic stopping power. If the electronic stopping power is sufficiently high exceeding a certain threshold, an ion-track can be formed by each traversing ion. In the present study, the TEM study for UO irradiated with various high-energy ions (e.g. 100210 MeV Xe ions and 150310 MeV Au ions) has revealed that the ion-track size depends on the electronic stopping power. The dependence of ion-track size on the electronic stopping power is analyzed within the framework of thermal spike model.