Historical Approach to Materials Under Irradiation

Serge Bouffard is a retired director of research at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), where he has devoted his career to the study of materials irradiation and defect creation mechanisms. His latest research focuses on the effects of high densities of electronic excitation on materials.

• Preface xiChapter 1 Preliminary Remarks 11.1 References 4Chapter 2 Prerequisites for the Irradiation of Materials 52.1 Materials and purity, an old story 52.1.1 Materials and disorder in ancient history 52.2 Discovering the particles behind irradiation 142.2.1 High-voltage generation 152.2.2 Vacuum control 192.2.3 Cathode rays 242.2.4 Discovery of X-rays 272.2.5 Discovery of the electron 282.2.6 Discovery of radioactivity 292.3 First irradiation experiments 302.3.1 Pleochroic halos 342.4 Secondary effects of radiation 352.5 Chapter 2 references 382.5.1 A brief chronology 382.5.2 Biographies of some of the chapter’s personalities 392.6 References 40Chapter 3 Particle Transport 473.1 It all started with collision experiments 473.2 Slowing down in the matter 503.3 Particle stopping power 603.3.1 Electronic stopping power 603.3.2 Nuclear stopping power 643.4 Particle range 673.5 Transport simulation 683.5.1 First simulations 703.6 Channeling effects 743.7 Chapter 3 references 793.7.1 Short chronology 793.7.2 Biographies of some of the chapter’s personalities 793.8 References 81Chapter 4 First Notions of Defects 894.1 First observations of defects 894.1.1 Photographic processes 894.1.2 First experiments: an approach guided by sight 924.1.3 Defects, a useful concept for diffusion 964.2 Notions of defects 984.3 Chapter 4 references 1004.3.1 Biographies of some of the chapter’s personalities 1004.4 References 103Chapter 5 Defect Creation Mechanisms 1075.1 Production of defects by irradiation 1095.1.1 Creation of defects by electronic excitations and ionizations 1095.1.2 Models for the creation of defects by elastic collisions 1145.2 Determination of threshold displacement energy 1205.2.1 Threshold displacement energy mapping 1225.3 Numerical simulations 1245.3.1 Creation and stability of point defects 1245.3.2 Thermal spike 1265.4 Irradiation-induced sputtering 1285.4.1 Metal sputtering 1295.4.2 Uranium sputtering 1305.5 Chapter 5 references 1325.5.1 Biographies of some of the chapter’s personalities 1325.6 References 134Chapter 6 Metals Under Irradiation 1396.1 Notions shared with other disciplines 1416.1.1 Self-diffusion in metals 1416.1.2 Cold metalworking 1426.1.3 Dislocation theory 1456.2 Creation of defects in metals by irradiation 1466.2.1 Irradiation of pure metals 1476.2.2 Irradiation of ordered alloys 1496.3 Displacement threshold 1516.4 Description of defects 1546.4.1 Experimental observations of point defects 1556.5 Defect annealing 1596.6 Chapter 6 references 1676.6.1 Biographies of some of the chapter’s personalities 1676.7 References 168Chapter 7 Semiconductors Under Irradiation 1757.1 First irradiation of semiconductors 1767.2 Defect generation and counting 1817.2.1 Determining the displacement threshold 1817.2.2 High-energy deposits 1837.2.3 Description of defects 1847.3 Diffusion in semiconductors 1877.3.1 Smart Cut process 1887.4 Chapter 7 references 1897.4.1 Laboratories and personalities in this chapter 1897.5 References 191Chapter 8 Iono-covalent Insulators Under Irradiation 1958.1 Iono-covalent materials under irradiation 1958.1.1 Defects in iono-covalent materials 1978.1.2 Threshold displacement energy in inorganic insulators 2008.1.3 Phase transformation under irradiation 2028.2 Biographies of some of the chapter’s personalities 2038.3 References 203Chapter 9 Polymers Under Irradiation 2079.1 First irradiations of polymers 2079.2 Research into degradation mechanisms 2119.3 Radio-oxidation of polymers 2179.4 Research and development, an active field 2189.5 Chapter 9 references 2199.5.1 Biographies of some of the chapter’s personalities 2199.6 References 219Chapter 10 Radiolysis of Liquids 22310.1 Upstream of the notion of radiolysis 22310.2 Activated water 22710.3 Free radicals 22810.4 Solvated electrons 22910.4.1 Solvated electrons, an old story 23010.5 Effects of the spatial structure of energy deposits 23410.6 Radiolysis yields 23710.7 Chapter 10 references 23710.7.1 Biographies of some of the chapter’s personalities 23710.8 References 239Chapter 11 Irradiation Tools 24311.1 Accelerators 24411.1.1 Radio-frequency cavity accelerators 24411.1.2 Electrostatic accelerators 24911.1.3 Tandem electrostatic accelerators 25211.1.4 Pulsed electron accelerators 25411.2 Nuclear reactors 25511.3 Recent developments 26011.4 Chapter 11 references 26011.4.1 Biographies of some of the chapter’s personalities 26011.5 References 262Chapter 12 Irradiation Applications 26712.1 Medical applications 26912.1.1 Radiography 26912.1.2 Radiotherapies 27112.1.3 Nuclear medicine 27312.1.4 Radiosterilization 27412.2 Food processing 27412.3 Polymer irradiation applications 27712.4 Semiconductor doping 27812.4.1 Doping by implantation 27912.4.2 Transmutation doping 28112.5 Radiation resistance of electronic components 28212.6 Ion track technology 28312.7 Cultural and historical heritage materials 28712.8 References 289Conclusions 293C.1 An active community 293C.2 Future prospects 295C.3 References 297Index 299