Radiation-induced phenomena related to electrical properties of hydrogen-doped strontium–cerium–ytterbium oxides under reactor irradiation

The effects of radiation on the electrical properties of hydrogen-doped (H-doped) strontium–cerium–ytterbium oxide (SrCe0.95Yb0.05O3−δ), a perovskite-type ceramic, were investigated by irradiating specimens with thermal and fast neutrons and gamma rays in a fission reactor. The electrical conductivities of the H-doped SrCe0.95Yb0.05O3−δ, which were measured at thermal and fast neutron fluxes of 4.1 × 1017 and 2.7 × 1016 n/m2s and an ionizing dose rate of 0.5 kGy/s, were approximately two orders of magnitude higher than the base conductivity in the absence of radiation and slightly higher compared to those of the non-doped SrCe0.95Yb0.05O3−δ. The radiation-induced phenomena on the electrical properties can allow radiation-enhanced diffusion of H as well as electronic excitation, which is caused by ionization effects. It was observed that the radiation-enhanced diffusion of H significantly depended on the irradiation temperatures in the range 384–519 K, whereas it was not affected by radiation-induced defects produced with a fast neutron fluence of approximately 1.3 × 1023 n/m2 under the present experimental conditions.