Effect of He-ion irradiation on short-range ordering in model (EFDA) Fe-Cr alloys

The effect of He-ion irradiation on a short-range ordering in model Fe100-xCrx (x=5.8, 10.75, 15.15) was studied by means of conversion electrons Mossbauer spectroscopy. The alloys were irradiated to the dose of 7.5 dpa with ions of 0.25 and 2.0 MeV. The short-range order was expressed in terms of the Warren-Cowley parameters: alpha1 (for the first nearest-neighbor shell), alpha2 (for the second nearest-neighbor shell) and alpha12 (for both shells). For all alloys and both energies a clustering of Cr atoms was revealed, as far as alpha1 and alpha2 are considered, yet its degree was found to be both concentration and energy dependent. The average short-range order parameter, alpha12, exhibits, however, a cross-over transition at x=10 from ordering into clustering. The strongest effect of energy occurs at x=5.8 and the weakest one at x=10.75.