Cr2AlC materials were irradiated with 7 MeV Xe26+ ions and 500 keV He2+ ions at room temperature. A structural transition with an increased c lattice parameter and a decreased a lattice parameter occurs after irradiation to doses above 1 dpa. Nevertheless, the modified structure is stable up to the dose of 5.2 dpa without obvious lattice disorder. The three samples irradiated to doses above 1 dpa have comparable lattice parameters and hardness values, suggesting a saturation of irradiation effects in Cr2AlC. The structural transition and irradiation effects saturation are ascribed to irradiation-induced antisite defects (CrAl and AlCr) and C interstitials, which is supported by the calculations of the formation energies of various defects in Cr2AlC. The irradiation-induced antisite defects and C interstitials may be critical to understand the excellent resistance to irradiation-induced amorphization of MAX phases.
@article{arxiv.1601.05514,
title = {Saturation of ion irradiation effects in Cr2AlC},
author = {Qing Huang and Han Han and Renduo Liu and Guanhong Lei and Long Yan and Jie Zhou and Qing Huang},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1601.05514},
year = {2021}
}