Irradiation effects on yttria-stabilized zirconia irradiated with neon ions

In situ TEM observation was performed on yttria-stabilized zirconia during 30 keV Ne+ ion irradiation at room temperature, 923 and 1473 K, respectively, and annealing was performed after irradiation. The observed results revealed clear difference in morphology of damage evolution depending on irradiation temperature. In the irradiation at room temperature defect clusters and bubbles were formed homogeneously at random, and defect clusters were formed earlier than bubbles. In the irradiation at 923 K bubbles and dislocation loops are formed heterogeneously almost at the same time. Moreover, bubbles existed almost only on the loop planes but were almost invisible outside of loop planes in the early stage of irradiation. In the irradiation at 1473 K only bubbles were formed and they grew remarkably with the increasing ion fluence. In annealing remarkable growth of bubbles were observed when temperature was raised from 1373 to 1473 K. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.