Radiation response of YAlO and Nd-YAlO to Swift heavy ions: insight into structural damage and defect dynamics

• Published in: Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP 2023-08, Vol.25 (3), p.2495-259
• Main Authors: Bhandari, Koushik, Grover, V, Kalita, P, Sudarshan, K, Modak, B, Sharma, Saurabh K, Kulriya, P. K
• Format: Article
• ISSN: 1463-9076; 1463-9084
• DOI: 10.1039/d3cp02734a

Understanding the behavior of a material under irradiation is paramount to its application in the nuclear industry. The present work explores the radiation response of garnet Y 3 Al 5 O 12 (YAG) and Nd 3+ -substituted Y 3 Al 5 O 12 (Nd-YAG) under a 100 MeV Iodine beam at varying fluences to mimic the effect of fission fragments. This is relevant to the potential application of garnet as a host for minor actinide (MA) transmutation (Nd 3+ : surrogate for long-lived MA (Am 3+ , Np 3+ , Cm 3+ )). The un-irradiated and irradiated YAG and Nd-YAG samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. Positron annihilation spectroscopy, thermal spike modelling and theoretical studies have been employed to understand the role of substitution and defect energetics in influencing this radiation response. Although both materials were not completely amorphized under the present irradiation conditions, a tremendous loss in crystallinity could be observed with increase in fluence, the damage being much more in Nd-YAG. Ion track radii of 2.17 nm and 2.91 nm were estimated for YAG and Nd-YAG respectively. Thermal-spike calculations show an increase in radiation-induced transient temperatures upon Nd-substitution that causes greater radiation damage in Nd-YAG. The enhancement in radiation-induced damage with increasing ion-fluence manifests in broadening and weakening of the Raman modes and XRD peaks. An increase in the average positron annihilation lifetime indicated the creation of oxygen vacancies. The defect formation energies of Y 3 Al 5 O 12 have been theoretically estimated via density functional theory (DFT) and unfavorable energies required for creating cation pair anti-sites have been proposed as one of the possible reasons for the relatively poorer radiation response of YAG. The irradiation behavior of Y 3 Al 5 O 12 has been compared with disordered fluorite (YSZ) and zirconate pyrochlores, which are well-researched ceramics for MA transmutation. Radiation response of Y 3 Al 5 O 12 and Nd 3+ -doped Y 3 Al 5 O 12 is reported under 100 MeV ions to mimic fission fragments. Introduction of Nd 3+ deteriorates the radiation response as shown by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and thermal spike modelling.