Grazing incidence synchrotron radiation diffraction studies on irradiated Ce-doped and pristine Y-stabilized ZrO2 at the Rossendorf Beamline

Ce-doped yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and pure YSZ phases were subjected to irradiation with 14 MeV Au ions. The irradiation studies were performed to simulate long-term structural and microstructural damage due to self-irradiation in YSZ phases hosting alpha-active radioactive species. It was found that both the Ce-doped YSZ and YSZ phases were rather tolerant to irradiation at high ion fluences and the bulk crystallinity was well preserved. Nevertheless, local microstrain increased in all the studied compounds after the irradiation, with the Ce-doped phases being less affected than pure YSZ. Doping with cerium ions increased the microstructural stability of YSZ phases through a possible reduction in the mobility of oxygen atoms, which limits the formation of structural defects. Doping of YSZ with tetravalent actinide elements is expected to have a similar effect. Thus, YSZ phases are promising for the safe long-term storage of radioactive elements. Using synchrotron radiation diffraction, measurements of the thin irradiated layers of the Ce-YSZ and YSZ samples were performed in grazing incidence (GI) mode. A corresponding module for measurements in GI mode was developed at ROBL and relevant technical details of sample alignment and data collection are also presented.