Monte Carlo simulation study of the positron contribution to displacements per atom production in YBCO superconductors

The contribution from positrons to the displacements per atom (dpa) distribution induced by the gamma irradiation on YBCO superconducting slabs is presented. The procedure implemented previously by the authors was adapted to take into account the contribution from positrons to dpa induced by the gamma radiation. The results show that, when positrons are considered in the atom displacement process, the total dpa almost doubles at 10 MeV of incident gamma radiation. At that energy positrons contribute 7% more to the total dpa than electrons, although electrons maintain having the highest contribution up to about 8 MeV.