Effect of irradiation temperature on the mobility of structural and vacancy defects in the damaged layer of Li2ZrO3 ceramics

The paper presents the assessment results of the irradiation temperature effect on the change in the type of structural defects caused by irradiation with helium ions in the near-surface layer of Li 2 ZrO 3 ceramics, as well as determining the nature of structural damage using the electron paramagnetic resonance method in the case of irradiation fluence variation. During characterization of the structural changes caused by helium ion irradiation, the main attention was paid to detailing the type of structural defects and radiolysis products arising during irradiation, alongside alterations in their concentration using the electron paramagnetic resonance method. During the experiments, it was determined that the observed effects of thermally stimulated mobility of vacancy defects in the damaged layer caused by irradiation with helium ions indicate a positive effect of thermal heating of samples during irradiation at low fluences. This effect consists in a decline in the number of oxygen vacancies in the damaged layer at low irradiation fluences (10 15 –10 16 cm −2 ), the concentration of which was determined using the EPR method, and the observed structural changes at low irradiation fluences in the case of an elevation in irradiation temperatures are associated with deformation distortion of the crystalline structure of ceramics caused by transformation energy processes, and thermal expansion effects. • Thermally stimulated mobility of vacancy defects in the damaged layer. • Results of the irradiation temperature effect on the change in the type of structural defects caused by irradiation with helium ions in the near-surface layer of Li 2 ZrO 3 ceramics. • Simulation of the kinetics of accumulation of structural defects and radiolysis products in the near-surface layer of ceramics. • Comparative analysis results of the assessment of the degree of structural disorder associated with deformation swelling of the crystal lattice.