Characterisation of microstructural parameters in oxygen-irradiated Zr–1.0%Nb–1.0%Sn–0.1%Fe

We have characterised the microstructural parameters like domain size, microstrain within the domain, dislocation density and stacking fault probabilities in Zr–1.0%Nb–1.0%Sn–0.1%Fe alloy, irradiated with 116 MeV O5+ ion at different doses, by X-ray diffraction line profile analysis using modified Rietveld technique. The analysis revealed that there is a significant decrease in domain size but increase in microstrain and dislocation density with dose of irradiation. These microstructural parameters have been compared with our earlier observations on the same alloy irradiated at different doses with 15 MeV proton. We find significant changes of these parameters in oxygen-irradiated samples as compared to the proton-irradiated samples. The variations of microstructures in these samples have been explained in the light of the mechanism of defect evolution for light and heavy ion irradiation.