Stress field induced by swift heavy ion irradiation in cubic yttria stabilized zirconia

X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to investigate the damage and the correlated stress induced by the slowing down of swift heavy ions in cubic zirconia polycrystals doped with 10 mol % Y2O3. Samples were irradiated at room temperature with 940 MeV Pb ions at fluences ranging from 5x10(11) to 4x10(13) cm(-2). Changes of XRD profiles were examined at increasing fluences. Residual macroscopic stresses induced by irradiation were determined using XRD by the "sin(2) psi method." The state of stress in the irradiated layer was described by a combination of: (i) a hydrostatic stress caused by the formation of damaged tracks leading to swelling and (ii) a biaxial stress imposed by the bulk undamaged material, which controls the lateral expansion of the surface damaged layer. The evolution of the stress as a function of irradiation fluence was also determined: the intensity of the hydrostatic stress increases from 80 to 460 MPa when the fluence is increased from 5x10(11) to 4x10(13) cm(-2) and that of the biaxial stress increases correlatively from -80 to -1630 MPa. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.