Structural assessment and irradiation response of La2Zr2O7 pyrochlore: Impact of irradiation temperature and ion fluence

State of the art applications (nuclear waste host, scintillators, piezoelectric, SOFCs, etc.) of isometric pyrochlore, A(2)B(2)O(7), are very sensitive to the structural assessment upon ion irradiation. In the present study, La2Zr2O7 is irradiated using 1 MeV Xe4+ ions with fluence of 1 x 10(13), 5 x 10(13), and 1 x 10(14) ions/cm(2) at similar to 88 K and 300 K. The impact of irradiation temperature and ion fluence on the structural properties of the La2Zr2O7 are investigated using the GIXRD, Raman spectroscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The GIXRD and Raman results indicate that the degradation of the crystallinity (i.e., damage/amorphization) are significantly higher with enhanced fluence at similar to 88 K than that of 300 K. The induced lattice strain also increases with an increase of ion fluence and it is more pronounced at similar to 88 K. The HR-TEM results of the La2Zr2O7 samples exhibit that degradation of the atomic ordering are more pronounced at similar to 88 K. The prominent induced strain and degradation of crystallinity (i.e., damage/amorphization) at similar to 88 K appear to be ion fluence and irradiation temperature-dependent. This study is enlightening the effect of the ion fluence and irradiation temperature on the degradation of crystallinity (i.e., damage/amorphization). (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates that the structural properties of La2Zr2O7 are significantly impacted by the irradiation temperature and ion fluence during ion irradiation. At lower temperatures, the degradation of crystallinity becomes more pronounced with an increase in ion fluence.