Investigation of vacancy-type defects in helium irradiated FeCrNi alloy by slow positron beam

The evolution of microstruture for Fe16.7Cr14.5Ni model alloy and 316 stainless steel irradiated with 140 keV He ions were studied by Positron annihilation spectroscopy. The fluences were 1 x 10(16) and 5 x 10(16) He ions/cm(2). The irradiation temperature was room temperature and 573 K, respectively. The variation of S parameter-incident positron energy profile indicated that large amount of vacancy-type defects formed after He ion irradiation. Meanwhile, helium atoms deposited in bulk and certain amount of He-vacancy complexes were formed. The vacancy-type defects could be the major defects in track region and He-vacancy complexes would be the main defects in cascade region. The vacancy-type defects could migrate and aggregate to form vacancy clusters and even microvoids at elevated temperature irradiation. The diffusion mechanism of helium atoms might be changed at different irradiation temperature. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.