MAX Phases are nanolaminated ternary carbides and nitrides that have attracted much attention for the last decade. Thanks to their exceptional mechanical and thermal properties, their strong damage tolerance at high temperature and refractoriness, some of these phases appear to be potential candidates for applications as structural materials in future nuclear reactors. Especially, two of these compounds, Ti₃SiC₂ and Ti₃(Si,Al)C₂, were recently studied under heavy ion and high energies irradiation [1-3].

 

            In this study, the behaviour under ion irradiation is extended to two other MAX phases, Ti₂AlN and Ti₃AlC₂. The here presented investigations deal with low energy Ar⁺⁺ irradiation of a (Ti,Al)N/Ti₂AlN multilayer and of a Ti₃AlC₂ epitaxial thin film (150 and 240 keV Ar⁺⁺ respectively). Their behaviours under room temperature Ar⁺⁺ irradiation, with a fluence ranging from 1.5´10¹³ up to 10¹⁵ Ar.cm^-2, were investigated using X-ray diffraction and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) (image, diffraction, EELS). An expansion along the c axis of the hexagonal lattice is evidenced in both compounds. For Ti₂AlN, a conservation of the (0006) and a progressive disappearance of the (0002) and (0004) diffraction peaks for increasing dose are observed. Concerning Ti₃AlC₂, a phase transformation occurs as long as the fluence increases. One does not observe an amorphisation of these two MAX Phases, even for the highest dose (corresponding approximately 5 dpa) we have used. From these observations, the resistance to ion irradiation induced damages in Ti₂AlN and Ti₃AlC₂ will be discussed.

 

 

[1] J.C. Nappé et al. J Nucl Mater 385 (2009) 304-307

[2] X. Liu et al. Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res B 268 (2010) 506-512

[3] M. Le Flem et al. accepted in Int J Appl Ceram Tech (2010)

Matthieu Bugnet, Institut PPRIMME - CNRS - Université de Poitiers - ENSMA, France
Philippe Guérin, Institut PPRIMME - CNRS - Université de Poitiers - ENSMA, France
Marc Marteau, Institut PPRIMME - CNRS - Université de Poitiers - ENSMA, France
Frédéric Pailloux, Institut PPRIMME - CNRS - Université de Poitiers - ENSMA, France
Per Eklund, University of Linköping, Sweden
Jonathan A Hinks, University of Salford, United Kingdom
Stephen E Donnelly, University of Salford, United Kingdom
Marie-France Beaufort*, Institut PPRIMME - CNRS - Université de Poitiers - ENSMA, France
Vincent Mauchamp, Institut PPRIMME - CNRS - Université de Poitiers - ENSMA, France
Thierry Cabioc'h, Institut PPRIMME - CNRS - Université de Poitiers - ENSMA, France
Michel Jaouen, Institut PPRIMME - CNRS - Université de Poitiers - ENSMA, France

*presenting author