Non-destructive ion beam analytical techniques were used to study radiation damage in spinel monocrystals which had been irradiated with fast neutrons, at 400 or 750C, to fluences above 5 x 1022/cm2, using energies of more than 0.1MeV. Rutherford back-scattering and ion-channelling measurements, using 1 to 4MeV He-ion beams, revealed that the radiation damage saturated at 50dpa, at 400C,. The energy dependence of the de-channelling indicated that the predominant extended defects in heavily irradiated samples were dislocations. Channelling angular scans of particle-induced X-ray emissions further suggested that neutron irradiation tended to randomize the distributions of Mg2+ and Al3+ cations on the lattice sites.

N.Yu, C.J.Maggiore, K.E.Sickafus, M.Nastasi, F.A.Garner, G.W.Hollenberg, R.C.Bradt: Journal of Nuclear Materials, 1996, 239, 284-90