BSTRACTA combined experimental and computational evaluation of damage accumulation in ion-irradiated Ni

NiFe

and NiFeCoCr is presented. A suppressed damage accumulation

at early stages (low-fluence irradiations)

is revealed in NiFeCoCr

with a linear dependence as a function of ion fluence

in sharp contrast to Ni and NiFe. This effect

observed at 16 K

is attributed to the complex energy landscape in these alloys that limits defect mobility and therefore enhances defect interaction and recombination. These results

together with previous room-temperature and high-temperature investigations

suggest ‘self-healing’ as an intrinsic property of complex alloys that is not a thermally activated process.

IMPACT STATEMENT

A combined experimental and computational evaluation reveals a remarkable delayed damage accumulation due to significant athermal suppression of defect production in ion-irradiated concentrated solid solution alloys at 16 K.