Deuterium ion irradiation induced precipitation in Fe-Cr alloy: Characterization and effects on irradiation behavior

A new phase was found to precipitate in a Fe-Cr model alloy after 58 keV deuterium ion irradiation at 773 K. The nanoscale radiation-induced precipitate was studied systematically using high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), image simulation and in-situ ultrahigh voltage transmission electron microscopy (HVEM). B2 structure is proposed for the new Cr-rich phase, which adopts a cube-on-cube orientation relationship with regard to the Fe matrix. Geometric phase analysis (GPA) was employed to measure the strain fields around the precipitate and this was used to explain its characteristic 1-dimensional elongation along the 〈1 0 0〉 Fe direction. The precipitate was stable under subsequent electron irradiation at different temperatures. We suggest that the precipitate with a high interface-to-volume ratio enhances the radiation resistance of the material. The reason for this is the presence of a large number of interfaces between the precipitate and the matrix, which may greatly reduce the concentration of point defects around the dislocation loops. This leads to a significant decrease in the growth rate.