In-situ Fe + Ion Irradiation of an Oxide Dispersion Strengthened Steel

Oxide Dispersion Strengthened (ODS) reduced activation ferritic steels are promising candidate materials for structural components of both nuclear fission and fusion reactors. However, when irradiated with energetic particles, they may suffer changes on their microstructures that degrade their mechanical performance. In-situ transmission electron microscopy studies on ion-irradiated ODS steels can give remarkable insights into fundamental aspects of radiation damage allowing dynamic observations of defect formation, mobilities, and interactions during irradiation. In this investigation, a commercially available PM2000 ODS steel was in-situ irradiated with 150 KeV Fe+ at room temperature and 700°C. These experiments showed that the oxide nanoparticles in these steels remain stable up to the higher irradiation dose (~ 1.5 dpa), and that these particles seem to be effective sinks for irradiation induced defects.