TEM investigation of irradiation-induced defects in an ion-irradiated Fe-9Cr ODS steel

Oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steels are promising candidate materials for structural components in nuclear power generators. Here we report on our preliminary results of TEM investigations of irradiation-induced defects in an ion-irradiated Fe-9Cr ODS steel. A cross-sectional TEM sample prepared by focused ion beam (FIB) was studied in a FEI Talos F200X transmission electron microscope by imaging under various diffraction conditions in bright- and dark-field mode. The TEM micrographs show a defect-rich band of about 400 nm width. The band is aligned parallel to the specimen surface and its position corresponds to the position of the peaks in the damage and/or injected interstitials profiles. Therefore we conclude that the defects within the band are caused by the ion irradiation. In higher magnified images of the band we observe a large number of defects, which appear as "black dots" showing a high contrast under kinematic bright-field conditions. We assume that these defects are interstitial loops, however this assumption has to be proved by further investigations. Additionally we observe some strongly curved dislocation segments, which will also be a subject of our further TEM studies.