Radiation effects in carbides: TiC and ZrC versus SiC

The aim of this paper is to provide, in the framework of the use of carbides for nuclear fuel applications, a comparison of the effects of irradiation observed in TiC and ZrC with those already widely investigated in SiC. To achieve this goal, the three carbides (SiC, TiC, ZrC) were simultaneously irradiated at room temperature with 1.2 MeV Au ions at several fluences. The damage created by irradiation was evaluated by RBS-C, XRD and Raman experiments. The results indicate a drastic difference between TiC and ZrC versus SiC. Whereas amorphization is readily achieved for SiC at low Au fluence (between 5 × 1013 and 1.7 × 1014 cm−2), TiC and ZrC maintain their crystalline structure at the highest Au fluence used (7 × 1015 cm−2). Ionicity character of bondings as well as topological criteria in TiC and ZrC, as compared to SiC, could play a major role for preventing amorphization in the former two carbides.