Delayed damage accumulation by athermal suppression of defect production in concentrated solid solution alloys

A combined experimental and computational evaluation of damage accumulation in ion-irradiated Ni, NiFe, and NiFeCoCr is presented. A suppressed damage accumulation, at early stages (low-fluence irradiations), is revealed in NiFeCoCr, with a linear dependence as a function of ion fluence, in sharp contrast to Ni and NiFe. This effect, observed at 16 K, is attributed to the complex energy landscape in these alloys that limits defect mobility and therefore enhances defect interaction and recombination. These results, together with previous room-temperature and high-temperature investigations, suggest ‘self-healing’ as an intrinsic property of complex alloys that is not a thermally activated process.

IMPACT STATEMENT A combined experimental and computational evaluation reveals a remarkable delayed damage accumulation due to significant athermal suppression of defect production in ion-irradiated concentrated solid solution alloys at 16 K.