Chao-Chen Wei

Superior radiation-resistant nanoengineered austenitic 304L stainless steel for applications in extreme radiation environments

Nuclear energy provides more than 10% of electrical power internationally, and the increasing engagement of nuclear energy is essential to meet the rapid worldwide increase in energy demand. A paramount challenge in the development of advanced nuclear reactors is the discovery of advanced structural materials that can endure extreme environments, such as severe neutron irradiation damage at high temperatures. It has been known for decades that high dose radiation can introduce significant void swelling accompanied by precipitation in austenitic stainless steel (SS). Here we report, however, that through nanoengineering, ultra-fine grained (UFG) 304L SS with an average grain size of ~100 nm, can withstand Fe ion irradiation at 500°C to 80 displacements-per-atom (dpa) with moderate grain coarsening. Compared to coarse grained (CG) counterparts, swelling resistance of UFG SS is improved by nearly an order of magnitude and swelling rate is reduced by a factor of 5. M23C6 precipitates, abundant in irradiated CG SS, are largely absent in UFG SS. This study provides a nanoengineering approach to design and discover radiation tolerant metallic materials for applications in extreme radiation environments.

Physical assembly of Ag nanocrystals on enclosed surfaces in monocrystalline Si

Growth of thin crystals on external substrate surfaces by many different methods is a well-known technique, but its extension to inner, enclosed surfaces of large defects in monocrystalline materials has not yet been reported. The literature on thin film growth and defects in materials can be leveraged to fabricate new structures for a variety of applications. Here we show a physical process of nucleation and evolution of nanocrystalline silver inside voids in monocrystalline silicon. We found that the Ag growth is hetero-epitaxial using a coincident site lattice. Alignment of Ag and Si atomic planes is uniformly observed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy and macroscopically by channeling Rutherford backscattering spectrometry.