Atomistic Monte Carlo simulations of radiation induced segregation and precipitation

We present Monte Carlo simulations of radiation-induced segregation and precipitation kinetics in binary alloys. The simulations are based on a simple atomic model of diffusion under irradiation which takes into account the creation, diffusion. recombination and annihilation of point defects at sinks. They can reproduce the coupling between point defects and atomic fluxes towards sinks, which controls the segregation process. In ideal solid solutions. the results are found to be in very good agreement with classical models based on rate equations. In alloys with an unmixing tendency, we show how the coupling between the point defect distribution, the solute segregation and the precipitation kinetics can generate complex microstructural evolutions which depend on the very details of atomic scale diffusion properties.