Ab-initio approach to the effect of Fe on the diffusion in hcp Zr

The role of Fe in the hcp Zr diffusion process is analyzed, given its ultra-fast diffusion (up to nine orders of magnitude higher than the self-diffusion in the temperature range 779–1128 K) and the enhancement observed in the self and substitutional diffusion induced by its unavoidable presence as impurity. Ab-initio calculations using SIESTA and WIEN2K codes were performed in order to find the actual Fe minimum energy configuration within the hcp Zr matrix and its interaction with vacancies. Several off-centre quasi-interstitial positions with energies similar to substitutional Fe were encountered. The comparison with diffusion coefficient measurements and Mössbauer experiments allows us to discard the substitutional position of the Fe atom as well as to affirm that its presence creates a considerable lattice distortion together with an increment in the number of vacancies. The above effects could be responsible for the enhancement in the self and substitutional diffusion, whereas the large amount of quasi-interstitial positions for Fe could be, at least partially, responsible for the ultra-fast Fe diffusion.