AlON透明陶瓷的中子辐照损伤及其性能研究

As the development of nuclear energy industry, investigation on irradiation behavior of materials becomes a hotspot. However, due to the poor irradiation resistance of optical glass, lens and windows used in nuclear plant or hot laboratory cave are prone to coloration, which lead to the great decrease of their optical properties. It is known that ceramics possess better irradiation resistance than glass. Thus transparent ceramic materials are expected to replace optical glass in irradiative environment. Transparent ceramic combines excellent structural and functional properties, which make them promising candidates for wide applications. Among them, transparent AlON ceramic is famous for its excellent optical properties, dielectric properties, mechanical properties as well as chemical stability. As far as the authors known, there has been no report concerning about neutron irradiation behavior of transparent AlON ceramic. Thus, in this work, we aim to investigate the neutron irradiation behavior of transparent AlON ceramic under different dose. The neutron irradiation mechanism of transparent ceramic will be clarified. And the influence of neutron irradiation on optical properties and mechanical properties will be revealed. We hope that this work will provide a guideline for the design and development of high performance transparent ceramic in nuclear radiation environment.

随着核能的发展，材料的辐照行为研究成为热点。然而，由于传统的光学玻璃耐中子辐照性能较差，作为反应堆及热室中的光学仪器镜头及窗口材料很容易变色发黑以致失去透光能力。陶瓷材料具有良好的耐辐照性能，因而透明陶瓷有望取代光学玻璃用于辐照环境中。透明陶瓷集结构与功能于一身，是硅酸盐材料研究和发展的重要方向之一，其中，AlON透明陶瓷因其良好的光学性能、介电性能、机械性能和化学稳定性能而备受青睐。迄今为止，关于AlON透明陶瓷的中子辐照研究在国内外尚属空白。为此，本项目拟以AlON透明陶瓷为研究对象，系统研究透明陶瓷在不同中子辐照剂量下的辐照损伤行为，阐明其辐照损伤机理，并探索中子辐照对AlON透明陶瓷力学性能及光学性能的影响规律。本项目有望为核辐照环境下透明陶瓷材料的设计及筛选提供理论与实验依据。

由于传统的光学玻璃耐中子辐照性能较差，作为反应堆及热室中的光学仪器镜头及窗口材料很容易变色发黑以致失去透光能力。透明陶瓷材料具有良好的耐辐照性能、光学性能、力学性能及化学稳定性，因而透明陶瓷有望取代光学玻璃用于辐照环境中。本项目采用SPS烧结方法制备出了单相致密的AlON透明陶瓷，透光率达到80%以上。系统研究了AlON、YAG及MAO透明陶瓷的伽马与中子辐照损伤行为。在相同的辐照条件下，AlON与MAO的抗辐照性能优于YAG。伽马辐照与低剂量的中子辐照后，材料晶体结构几乎没有变化，未发现晶格肿胀与非晶化。辐照后透明陶瓷发生明显的着色现象，紫外-可见光谱透光率明显降低，而红外光谱几乎不变。因此，这类陶瓷材料具有较好的抗辐照性能，可作为红外窗口材料用于伽马/中子辐照环境中。此外，由于伽马辐照退火效应的存在，这类透明陶瓷有望作为窗口材料用于强伽马辐射环境中。