Defect annihilation at grain boundaries in alpha-Fe

D Chen and J Wang and TY Chen and L Shao, SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 3, 1450 (2013).

DOI: 10.1038/srep01450

Understanding radiation responses of Fe-based metals is essential to develop radiation tolerant steels for longer and safer life cycles in harsh reactor environments. Nanograined metals have been explored as self-healing materials due to point-defect recombination at grain boundaries. The fundamental defect-boundary interactions, however, are not yet well understood. We discover that the interactions are always mediated by formation and annealing of chain-like defects, which consist of alternately positioned interstitials and vacancies. These chain-like defects are closely correlated to the patterns of defect formation energy minima on the grain boundary, which depend on specific boundary configurations. Through chain-like defects, a point defect effectively translates large distances, to annihilate with its opposite, thus grain boundaries act as highly efficient defect sinks that cannot saturate under extreme radiation conditions.

Return to Publications page