Radiation-resistant amorphous materials

Crystalline materials are tough, but susceptible to radiation damage. To create materials with significantly improved safety, performance, and reliability for advanced nuclear reactors, we are investigating the radiation response of amorphous (non-crystalline) materials. Combining both crystalline and amorphous solids into composites may lead to materials that capitalize on the strengths of both while compensating for their weaknesses.

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Sponsors :

  • DOE Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies (NEET) program

Selected publications :

R. E. Baumer and M. J. Demkowicz, “Glass Transition by Gelation in a Phase Separating Binary Alloy,” Physical Review Letters 110, 145502 (2013)  http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.145502

R. E. Baumer and M. J. Demkowicz, “Prediction of Spontaneous Plastic Deformation of Irradiated Metallic Glasses due to Thermal Spike-Induced Plasticity”, Materials Research Letters, 2014

R. E. Baumer and M. J. Demkowicz, “Radiation response of amorphous metal alloys: Subcascades, thermal spikes and super-quenched zones,” Acta Materialia 83, 419 (2015)

R. E. Baumer and M. J. Demkowicz, “A ‘figure of merit’ for susceptibility of irradiated amorphous metal alloys to thermal spike-induced plasticity,” Acta Materialia 83, 419 (2015)

H. Ding and M. J. Demkowicz, “Hydrogen reverses the clustering tendency of carbon in amorphous silicon oxycarbide,” Scientific Reports 5, 13051 (2015)

People :

Richard Baumer
Kan-Ju Lin
Hepeng Ding