Structural properties of fission-product doped ZrO2 and MgAl2O4 single crystals

The structural properties of Zirconia (ZrO2) and spinel (MgAl2O4) single crystals doped by ion implantation with fission products (Cs and I) were investigated by using the Rutherford backscattering and channeling techniques. The implantation process induces a heavy damage in the various sublattices of the ceramic matrices above a fluence of about 10(15) at. cm(-2), corresponding to a number of displacements per atom (dpa) of about 1-2, Large values of the Cs and I substitutional fractions, attributed to the formation of impurity-vacancy complexes, are obtained at impurity concentrations lower than 0.5 at.%. The substitutional fraction decreases with increasing implantation fluence. This effect, which is more pronounced for I than for Cs ions, is likely due to precipitation or compound formation. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.