Effect of H and He irradiation on cavity formation and blistering in ceramics

Single- or poly-crystalline specimens of SiC, Si3N4, MgO, Al2O3 and MgAl2O4 were implanted with 0.4–1 MeV H+ or He+ ion beams at room temperature and 650 °C up to fluences of ∼1 × 1022/m2. This produced peak implanted gas and displacement damage levels as high as ∼50 at.% and 34 displacements per atom (dpa). The specimens were subsequently examined optically, and in cross-section using transmission electron microscopy. Subsurface blistering occurred for specimens irradiated to H or He fluences greater than about 3 × 1021/m2 (∼15 at.% peak implanted gas concentration), and surface exfoliation occurred for fluences above ∼1 × 1022/m2 (∼40 at.% implanted gas). Both helium and hydrogen had comparable effectiveness for inducing blistering and exfoliation on an atomic basis. The threshold blistering and exfoliation fluences for both ions were weakly dependent on temperature between 25 and 650 °C. Both H and He were found to be very effective in inducing matrix cavity formation, due to their low solubility in these ceramics. The implanted gas concentrations that resulted in visible cavity formation generally ranged from 1 to 5 at.%. Visible cavity formation was readily induced during room temperature irradiation despite the limited vacancy mobility in these ceramics at room temperature. Three general types of cavity morphologies were observed: isolated cavities, clusters of small cavities (typically associated with dislocation loops), and two-dimensional platelets. Cavity formation was observed to initiate at the periphery of dislocation loops in some cases. During elevated temperature irradiation, cavity formation was often observed to be preferentially associated with certain low-index habit planes, particularly if the habit plane was oriented nearly parallel to the irradiated surface: (0 0 0 1) and {11¯00} for Al2O3, (0 0 0 1) for α–SiC, {0 0 1} and {1 1 0} for MgO, and {1 1 0} and {1 1 1} for MgAl2O4. The bubble formation and blistering behavior of the ceramics was similar to that observed in other studies of metals irradiated at comparable homologous temperatures. Ionization-induced diffusion effects associated with dual-beam light ion irradiation appeared to exert only a weak effect on cavity and dislocation loop growth compared to the single ion irradiation conditions.