Radiation damage

Radiation damage in metals from energetic protons

Soreq Applied Research Accelerator Facility (SARAF) is planned to produce 4MeV protons beam with an intensity of up to 4mA in Phase-I, and 40MeV protons in Phase-II. SARAF accelerator is unique in its high flux of protons generated compared to accelerators worldwide which operate in this energy range. The beam produces significant damage in materials located at different parts of the accelerator, in particular, in the targets and the beam dump. The energetic protons strike the beam dump and penetrate into the bulk, slowing down by transferring kinetic energy to the surrounding matter until they are stopped. The energy loss processes include atomic displacements, electron and phonon excitations.

During service, radiation induced point defects, such as interstitials and vacancies, are created, these defects can diffuse and create interstitial clusters, stacking faults, and voids. Eventually, this can lead to swelling, hardening, amorphization, and embrittlement, which are primary causes of material failure. The evolution of radiation damage is well known to be strongly temperature dependent. It is important to understand the mechanisms of radiation damage driven evolution of the material microstructure.

This project aims at understanding the influence of proton flux and irradiation temperature on short and long term evolution of radiation damage by a combination of modeling and experimental validation.