Temperature effect on ion irradiation-induced phase transformation in 304 stainless steel

Foil specimens of austenitic 304 stainless steel were irradiated with 100 keV Xe ions with fluences from 1 × 10²⁰ to 1 × 10²¹ ions m⁻² at temperatures of 873, 773, 723, 523, 423, 353, and 295 K. Phase transformations were induced in the specimens during the irradiation. It has been shown that the irradiation temperature has a large influence on the size of irradiation-induced phases. The size of the transformed zones decreases with increasing temperature under similar irradiation dose. The results reveal that the induced phase transformation relates directly to the irradiation damage and has a complex relation to the temperature.