About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2026 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
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| Symposium
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Accelerated Qualification Methods for Nuclear Reactor Structural Materials
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| Presentation Title |
Pushing the Limits of Backscatter Electron Imaging of Radiation-induced Voids |
| Author(s) |
Maxwell Rae, Stephan Kraemer, Angus Wylie, Lauren Garrison, Michael Phillip Short |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Maxwell Rae |
| Abstract Scope |
Ion irradiations can be used to screen materials for resistance to neutron-like damage. However, many ion irradiation studies of void swelling involve transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which necessitates small analysis volumes that can miss micron-scale spatial heterogeneity in damage microstructures.
Backscatter electron (BSE) microscopy has been used to survey void microstructures in neutron-irradiated samples. In this study, we determine near-optimal BSE and image analysis conditions to study swelling in a nickel sample self-ion irradiated to 50 displacements per atom. The contrast of voids as a function of void depth and size, and electron accelerating voltage are explored. The effect of solid angle of BSE detection is investigated. Void dimensions from the BSE image are presented and compared against void sizes from a 3D FIB serial-sectioning reconstruction.
Overall, BSE imaging enables large-area examination of radiation induced swelling microstructure, and fast, reasonably accurate analysis of void swelling across microstructural heterogeneity.
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| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Characterization, Nuclear Materials, Copper / Nickel / Cobalt |