Abstract
The effect of 2 MeV Ar+-ion irradiation on the thermal conductivity of epitaxial layers of UO2 and U3O 8 was studied with time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR) at temperatures between 323 and 658 K. The thermal conductivity of unirradiated UO2 is 10.2 W m-1 K-1 at 323 K and scales with temperature like 1/T. Upon irradiation with doses >0.7 × 10 15 Ar+ cm-2, the thermal conductivity decreases to a nearly constant value <4 W m-1 K. By comparing the data to an analytic model, we report the point-scattering strength of irradiation induced defects in UO2. Unirradiated U3O8 has a thermal conductivity of 1.6 W m-1 K-1 at 333 K. Low and medium doses of Ar-ion irradiation decrease the thermal conductivity of U 3O8 to <1.0 W m-1 K-1. Unexpectedly, it is found that higher doses of Ar+ irradiation increased the conductivity of U3O8 to ∼2.0 W m -1 K-1.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 212-217 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Journal of Nuclear Materials |
Volume | 443 |
Issue number | 1-3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 15 2013 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Nuclear and High Energy Physics
- Nuclear Energy and Engineering
- Materials Science(all)