About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2026 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Vacancy Engineering in Metals and Alloys
|
| Presentation Title |
Design of radiation-resistant dilute alloys using synergistic solutes to trap vacancies |
| Author(s) |
Pascal M. Bellon, Vaibhav Vasudevan, Soumyajit Jana, Robert S. Averback |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Pascal M. Bellon |
| Abstract Scope |
The long-term degradation of materials during irradiation stems largely from the sustained fluxes and absorption of point defects at sinks. A promising strategy to improve radiation resistance is the addition of a solute that can trap vacancies, increasing the rate of vacancy-interstitial recombination. Solutes binding to vacancies, however, are fast diffusers and thus quickly removed from the matrix. We propose a novel approach where two synergistic solutes are used, a solute “B” that binds to vacancies and a solute “C” that binds to "B" but is a slow diffuser in “A”. First-principles calculations and transport coefficients modeling are employed to identify promising synergistic solutes in Cu. KMC simulations indicate that solute clusters of size ≈ 10 are the most effective in trapping vacancies. Experimental validation is performed on selected alloys, subjecting thin films to heavy ion irradiation and characterizing them by transmission electron microscopy. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Computational Materials Science & Engineering, Nuclear Materials, Characterization |