@article{85f075e64def4a2d85fd4ecb3127d08b,
title = "Interaction between Al and atomic layer deposited (ALD) ZrN under high-energy heavy ion irradiation",
abstract = "Uranium-molybdenum (U-Mo) particles dispersed in an aluminum matrix is the most promising candidate fuel to convert high-power research and test reactors in Europe from using high-enriched to using low-enriched fuel. However, chemical interaction between the U-Mo and the Al matrix leads to undesirable fuel behavior. Zirconium nitride (ZrN) is used as a diffusion barrier between the U-Mo fuel particles and the Al matrix. To understand the potential microstructural evolution of ZrN during irradiation, a high-energy heavy ion (84 MeV Xe) irradiation experiment was performed on atomic layer deposited (ALD) nanocrystalline ZrN deposited on an Al plate. A fluence of 1.86×1017 ions/cm2, or 90.3 dpa was reached during this experiment. Both analytic transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and synchrotron microbeam X-ray diffraction (μXRD) techniques were utilized to investigate the kinetics of radiation-induced grain growth of ZrN at various radiation doses based on the Williamson-Hall analyses. The grain growth kinetics can be described by a power law expression, Dn−D0 n=Kϕ with n = 5.1. The Al-ZrN interaction products (Al3Zr and AlN) created by radiation-induced ballistic mixing/radiation-enhanced diffusion and their corresponding formation mechanism were determined from electron diffraction and elemental composition analysis. These experimental results were confirmed by first principle thermodynamic density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The results from this ion irradiation study were also compared to in-pile irradiation data from physical vapor deposited (PVD) ZrN samples for a comprehensive evaluation of the interaction between Al and ZrN and its influence on diffusion barrier performance.",
keywords = "Atomic layer deposition (ALD), Interaction, Ion irradiation, Microstructure, Synchrotron diffraction",
author = "Sumit Bhattacharya and Xiang Liu and Yinbin Miao and Kun Mo and Mei, {Zhi Gang} and Laura Jamison and Walid Mohamed and Aaron Oaks and Ruqing Xu and Shaofei Zhu and Stubbins, {James F.} and Yacout, {Abdellatif M.}",
note = "Funding Information: This work was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Material Management and Minimization in the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation under Contract DE-AC02-06CH11357. This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory. The authors would like to acknowledge the help of Matthew Hendricks on the ATLAS irradiation. This research used resources of Argonne National Laboratory's ATLAS facility, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility. The efforts involving Argonne National Laboratory were sponsored under Contract no. DE-AC02-06CH11357 between UChicago Argonne, LLC and the U.S. Department of Energy. The isotope(s) used in this research were supplied by the United States Department of Energy Office of Science by the Isotope Program in the Office of Nuclear Physics. Finally, the authors would also like to acknowledge the transmission electron microscopy work which was carried out in part in the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory Central Research Facilities, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Funding Information: This work was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Material Management and Minimization in the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation under Contract DE-AC02-06CH11357 . This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory. The authors would like to acknowledge the help of Matthew Hendricks on the ATLAS irradiation. This research used resources of Argonne National Laboratory's ATLAS facility, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility. The efforts involving Argonne National Laboratory were sponsored under Contract no. DE-AC02-06CH11357 between UChicago Argonne, LLC and the U.S. Department of Energy . The isotope(s) used in this research were supplied by the United States Department of Energy Office of Science by the Isotope Program in the Office of Nuclear Physics. Finally, the authors would also like to acknowledge the transmission electron microscopy work which was carried out in part in the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory Central Research Facilities, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 Acta Materialia Inc.",
year = "2019",
month = feb,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1016/j.actamat.2018.10.031",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "164",
pages = "788--798",
journal = "Acta Materialia",
issn = "1359-6454",
publisher = "Elsevier Limited",
}