Thermal diffusivity in ion-irradiated single-crystal iron, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten measured using transient grating spectroscopy

The speed-up of radiation science development with the advent of ion-irradiation experiments has, until recently, been omitted in the post-irradiation examination technique. This paper reports the results of transient grating spectroscopy-a rapid, non-destructive, in situ photothermal surface technique-of ion-irradiated single-crystals of iron, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten at room temperature. Thermal diffusivity was used to track damage development throughout irradiation, with 5 MeV self-ion irradiated iron, chromium, and vanadium showing little to no change up to damages of the order of 1 dpa. 5 MeV Si3+-ion irradiated tungsten exhibits a reduction of thermal diffusivity from 0.78(7) to 0.29(2) cm(2) s (-1) with logarithmically increasing dose over a similar damage range. A comparison to literature of transient grating spectroscopy thermal diffusivity values past and present shows good agreement; radiation-induced change can be clearly distinguished from differences between mono- and poly-crystalline tungsten. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.

Automated summary

The development of radiation science has been accelerated by ion-irradiation experiments. This study used transient grating spectroscopy to investigate ion-irradiated single-crystals of iron, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten, and tracked the damage development through thermal diffusivity. The results showed a reduction in thermal diffusivity of tungsten with increasing irradiation dose.