Influence of free surfaces on microstructure evolution of radiation damage in Fe from molecular dynamics and object kinetic Monte Carlo calculations

Abstract

The influence of surfaces on the evolution of damage of irradiated Fe is studied using object kinetic Monte Carlo with input from molecular dynamics simulations and ab initio calculations. Two effects are analysed: the influence of traps and the initial distribution of damage in the cascade. These simulations show that for a trap concentration of around 100 appm, there are no significant differences between defect concentrations in bulk and thin films. However, the initial distribution of defects plays an important role not only on total defect concentration but also on defect type, for the model used in this study. Damage produced by a 100 keV Fe ion impinging a Fe thin film. Blue (dark) spheres are self-interstitials, red (light) spheres are vacancies.