Modifications of Yttria Fully Stabilised Zirconia Thin Films by Ion Irradiation in the Inelastic Collision Regime

Radiation tolerance of Yttria Fully Stabilised Zirconia (FSZ) [1-3] to ion beams in the elastic collision regime has been investigated with respect to material structure, microstructure, and nature and distribution of defects. FSZ cannot be amorphised by exposure to heavy ions [4] and shows excellent thermal stability, making it particularly attractive as inert matrix for nuclear fuel elements and for the containment of high activity nuclear wastes. However, understanding the material response in the inelastic collision regime is needed, because such matrices are exposed to neutrons and heavy fission fragments with energies in the 100 MeV range, where the interactions are dominated by inelastic processes including ionisation and electronic excitations. Such a radiation damage can be simulated by irradiations performed at large accelerator facilities using ion beams of energy between MeV and GeV.