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Self-ion irradiation effects on mechanical properties of nanocrystalline zirconium films

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Abstract

Zirconium thin films were irradiated at room temperature with an 800 keV Zr+ beam using a 6 MV HVE Tandem accelerator to 1.36 displacement per atom damage. Freestanding tensile specimens, 100 nm thick and 10 nm grain size, were tested in situ inside a transmission electron microscope. Significant grain growth (>300%), texture evolution, and displacement damage defects were observed. Stress–strain profiles were mostly linear elastic below 20 nm grain size, but above this limit, the samples demonstrated yielding and strain hardening. Experimental results support the hypothesis that grain boundaries in nanocrystalline metals act as very effective defect sinks.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

B.W. and M.A.H. acknowledge the support of the US Department of Energy through a NEUP funding (DE-NE0000696). M.A.H. also acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (DMR 1609060) to carry out the MEMS fabrication at the Pennsylvania State University Nanofabrication Facility. The ion irradiation was carried out at the Sandia National Laboratories. The in situ TEM experiments were performed at the Materials Characterization Laboratory at the Pennsylvania State University. The authors would like to thank Daniel Buller for his assistance with the ion irradiation. This work was performed, in part, at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, an Office of Science User Facility operated for the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the US Department of Energy’ s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Penn State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Baoming Wang & M. A. Haque

  2. School of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    Vikas Tomar

  3. Sandia National Laboratories, PO Box 5800, Albuquerque, NM, 87185, USA

    Khalid Hattar

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  1. Baoming Wang
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  2. M. A. Haque
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  3. Vikas Tomar
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  4. Khalid Hattar
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Correspondence to M. A. Haque.

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Wang, B., Haque, M.A., Tomar, V. et al. Self-ion irradiation effects on mechanical properties of nanocrystalline zirconium films. MRS Communications 7, 595–600 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2017.51

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2017.51

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