Defect production in ceramics

A review is given of several important defect production and accumulation parameters fur irradiated ceramics. Materials covered in this review include alumina, magnesia, spinel, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, aluminum nitride and diamond. Whereas threshold displacement energies for many ceramics are known within a reasonable level of uncertainty (with notable exceptions being AlN and Si3N4), relatively little information exists on the equally important parameters of surviving defect fraction (defect production efficiency) and point defect migration energies for must ceramics. Very little fundamental displacement damage information is available for nitride ceramics. The role of subthreshold irradiation on defect migration and microstructural evolution is also briefly discussed. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.