The thermal fission-induced crystalline-to-amorphous transformation in U6Fe

Abstract

The crystalline-to-amorphous transformation in U6Fe produced by thermal fission fragment damage was studied using resistivity and differential scanning calorimetry. The results are described in terms of a model of radiation-produced defect buildup in the crystalline matrix followed by transformation of small regions to an amorphous phase when a critical local defect concentration is reached. This can occur directly in a single cascade or from cascade overlap. The total resistivity is modeled assuming an inhomogeneous media consisting of a crystalline matrix containing a dose-dependent concentration of defects and amorphous zones. The crystallization behavior is initially, starting at Tc = 388 K, a kinetically limited process of shrinkage of amorphous zones that gradually transforms to nucleation and growth in fully amorphous material at Tc = 555 K.