Effect of displacement cascade structure and defect mobility on the growth of point defect clusters under irradiation

The existence of an interplay between the structure of displacement cascades and point defect mobility that influences the long-term evolution of primary damage in α-Fe is revealed by applying an object kinetic Monte Carlo (OKMC) method. The investigation was carried out using different parameter sets, which primarily differ in the description of self-interstitial atom (SIA) cluster mobility. Two sets of molecular dynamics cascades (produced with the DYMOKA and the MOLDY codes, using different interatomic potentials) and one set of cascades produced in the binary collision approximation with the MARLOWE code, using a Ziegler–Biersack–Littmark (ZBL) potential were separately used as input for radiation damage simulation. The point defect cluster populations obtained after reaching 0.1 dpa were analyzed in each case and compared. It turns out that the relative influence of using different input cascade datasets on the damage features that evolve depends on which OKMC parameter set is employed.