Review of Swift Heavy Ion Irradiation Effects in CeO2

Abstract

Cerium dioxide (CeO2) exhibits complex behavior when irradiated with swift heavy ions. Modifications to this material originate from the production of atomic-scale defects, which accumulate and induce changes to the microstructure, chemistry, and material properties. As such, characterizing its radiation response requires a wide range of complementary characterization techniques to elucidate the defect formation and stability over multiple length scales, such as X-ray and neutron scattering, optical spectroscopy, and electron microscopy. In this article, recent experimental efforts are reviewed in order to holistically assess the current understanding and knowledge gaps regarding the underlying physical mechanisms that dictate the response of CeO2 and related materials to irradiation with swift heavy ions. The recent application of novel experimental techniques has provided additional insight into the structural and chemical behavior of irradiation-induced defects, from the local, atomic-scale arrangement to the long-range structure. However, future work must carefully account for the influence of experimental conditions, with respect to both sample properties (e.g., grain size and impurity content) and ion-beam parameters (e.g., ion mass and energy), to facilitate a more direct comparison of experimental results.

Benefits of using multiple Raman laser wavelengths for characterizing defects in a UO2 matrix

“…:8] = 1.143 Å) resulting in a lattice expansion. Similar observations have previously been reported by Palomares et al [ 59 ] and Cureton et al [ 60 ] The T 2g full‐width half maximum (FWHM) also increases as a result of irradiation (Figure S9) and with the addition of dopants; however, the change in FWHM due to doping is less prominent with the 455 nm spectra.…”

Phase stability of pre‐irradiated CeO2 with swift heavy ions under high pressure up to 45 GPa

“…18 It indicates that the radiation damage was annealed completely at 1 273 K. It is consistent with another study that some defects still remained in the annealed CeO 2 at 1 075 K. 72 Our annealing study also agrees with these previous results. Cureton et al 61 suggest that the defect clusters such as 2Ce 3+ -V O 2complexes are stable up to 1 073 K. Considering this information and our high-pressure Raman results of the annealed CeO 2 , it implies that one of the defect types predominately affecting the high-pressure phase stability is 2Ce 3+ -V O 2complex. However, the ab initio calculations predicted that hypo-stoichiometry could decrease the critical phase transition pressure, 44 which is contrast with our results.…”

“…These results can be therefore interpreted as the average information from the overall thickness. 7,14,16,18,61 In other words, the near-surface effect is likely to be covered by the bulk effect in some characterization techniques.…”

“…9 It means that radial expulsion of oxygen from the ion path can be induced by SHI. 61 Therefore, the pre-existing oxygen vacancies around the ion path may be eliminated during this process. On the other hand, SHI irradiation also produces the more localized oxygen vacancies within the track F I G U R E 5 UV-Raman spectra of CeO 2 before and after 336 MeV Xe ions irradiation (A) and the relative intensity of the D 2 band to F 2g band as a function of irradiation fluence (B).…”

Studying Corrosion Using Miniaturized Particle Attached Working Electrodes and the Nafion Membrane

“…Cerium dioxide (CeO 2 ) adopts a fluorite structure (space group Fm-3m) under ambient conditions, which is common to a variety of dioxides, including uranium oxide (UO 2 ), thorium oxide (ThO 2 ), plutonium oxide (PuO 2 ), and doped zirconium dioxide (ZrO 2 ) [1]. Therefore, CeO 2 has been used as a surrogate to understand irradiated mixed oxide (MOX)-based matrix fuel due to its similarity in structure and chemical and mechanical properties [2].…”