CAREER: Radiation Response and Stability of Nanostructured Materials

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The main objectives of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) proposal are to discover atomic-scale details governing nanomaterials? response to irradiation, and to explore the possibilities of property-tuning to achieve extremely radiation tolerant materials for high temperature reactor designs. The scientific goals of the project are to (1) obtain a fundamental understanding about the roles of boundaries in radiation damage development of nanograined materials; (2) study the stability limit of boundaries under extreme radiation environments; (3) evaluate the importance of boundary instability to defect sink efficiency; and (4) discover the keys in nanoscale design of radiation tolerant materials. The project will focus on SiC and T91 alloys, which represent important materials for reactor core structures. Starting with materials synthesis with different grain sizes, systematic ion irradiation and post irradiation characterization will be performed. The project will use atom probe tomography to provide the most comprehensive analysis of 3-dimensial atom distribution. Ion irradiation and in situ transmission electron microscopy will be used to observe the dynamics process of defect creation. If successful, the project will break new ground in understanding the basic physics of radiation damage in nanoscale materials and will contribute to reliable, affordable, and clean nuclear energy. Furthermore, the knowledge obtained through the project will impact the fabrication and application of a wide range of devices, sensors and detectors used in extreme radiation environments. Examples include fabrication of nanostructured materials, which requires ion implantation for doping, prediction of functional failures of nanoelectronics in space applications, and development of radiation detectors in particle physics and in homeland security applications. The project will also have broad impact with its educational and outreach plans to (1) increase participation of undergraduate students and minority students in emerging materials research; (2) develop curriculum for a new Master of Science program in nuclear materials; (3) create e-learning resources to integrate research, teaching and curriculum development, and to promote public learning in frontiers of nuclear materials science; and (4) develop the Center of Ion & Materials Research and use it as a platform for interdisciplinary research and teaching in ion beam related materials science.