An atomistic study of helium resolution in bcc iron

The evolution of gas-stabilized bubbles in irradiated materials can be a significant factor in the microstructural processes that lead to mechanical property and dimensional changes in structural materials exposed to high-energy neutrons. Helium generation and accumulation is particularly important under DT fusion irradiation conditions. Although the process of ballistic resolutioning of gas from bubbles has been long-discussed in the literature, there have been few computational studies of this mechanism. Resolutioning could limit bubble growth by ejecting gas atoms back into the metal matrix. A detailed atomistic study of ballistic He resolutioning from bubbles in bcc iron has been carried out using molecular dynamics. A newly-developed Fe–He interatomic potential was employed, with the iron matrix described by the potential of Ackland and co-workers from 1997. The primary variables examined were: irradiation temperature (100 and 600 K), iron knock-on atom energy (5 and 20 keV), bubble radius (∼0.5 and 1.0 nm), and He-to-vacancy ratio in the bubble (0.25, 0.5 and 1.0) in order to obtain an assessment of this dynamic resolutioning mechanism. The results presented here focus on the 5 keV cascades which indicate a modest, but potentially significant level of He removal by this process.