Simulation of neutron irradiation damage in lead lanthanum zirconate titanate by Monte Carlo method

Abstract

Lead lanthanum zirconate titanate (PLZT) has a broad application prospect for energy storage devices with high energy density, since it possesses excellent dielectric and energy storage properties. To investigate the irradiation damage to the PLZT induced by neutrons with different energy, the primary energetic recoil spectra of each kind of element are first extracted from the transportation simulations of neutrons with energy ranging from 1 to 14 MeV, respectively. Then, the displacement damages (including vacancies and interstitial atoms) induced by each type of recoil with different energy are simulated based on the binary collision approximation method. Finally the number of defects in PLZT produced by neutrons with an energy range from 1 to 14 MeV is calculated based on the recoil energy spectra and the defect number produced by the recoils. The results show that the number of defects produced in the PLZT material with a thickness of 3 cm is approximately independent of the neutron energy for the fast neutrons with energy in a range from 1 to 14 MeV, even though the primary recoil energy spectra from neutrons with different energy are completely different. The average number of defects produced in 3-cm-thick PLZT is about 460 ± 120 vacancies/neutrons. For neutrons with energy ranging from 1 to 14 MeV, the produced defect concentration in PLZT decreases slightly with the depth increasing within a thickness of 3 cm. The difference in defect concentration in this 3 cm is in a range of 50%. This decrease is caused mainly by the fact that some of neutrons are back-scattered during transport. The average defect concentration produced by neutron irradiation in the PLZT with a thickness of 3 cm is slightly(～20%) higher than that in the PLZT with a thickness of 1 mm. The reason for the higher defect concentration in a thicker (3 cm) PLZT can be attributed to the following facts: (i) the (n, 2n) reactions between neutron and material can make the number of neutrons increase during transport; (ii) the scattering can make the path of neutron longer; (iii) the inelastic scattering can lead to a smallnumber of moderated neutrons, which have a slightly larger interaction cross section with materials. This indicates the damage produced in thick PLZT is quite complicated and closely related to the process of neutron transport. This work presents a method of calculating the displacement damage of neutrons in materials, and the simulation results can provide guidance for studying the neutron irradiation effects of PLZT-based electronic devices.