An experimental technique was established for characterizing irradiation-induced swelling, or isotropic volume expansion, by the combined use of medium-to-high energy accelerators and interferometric surface profilometry. The technique was successfully applied to the characterization of swelling in β-SiC, which arose from the accumulation of point defects at 333 to 873K, as a function of fluence level, displacement damage rate and irradiation temperature. The swelling-rate and swelling at a given fluence level exhibited a negative dependence upon the irradiation temperature. The saturated low-temperature swelling fell on the lower edge of the neutron-irradiation swelling data band. The influence of the displacement damage rate was unremarkable. An additional study of the synergistic effect of atomic displacement damage and He production revealed an enhancement of low-temperature swelling in SiC in the presence of He.

Low Temperature Swelling in Beta-SiC Associated with Point Defect Accumulation. Y.Katoh, H.Kishimoto, A.Kohyama: Materials Transactions, 2002, 43[4], 612-6