Theory of pulsed-irradiation microstructures

Flux pulsing is predicted to influence microstructures because of pulse annealing and on point defect annealing. Specifically void annealing and vacancy annealing are analyzed. A high dislocation density enhances the void annealing effect but inhibits the point defect annealing effect. Furthermore, pulsing effects are greater for higher damage rates and smaller defect aggregates. It is concluded that pulsed ion irradiations can simulate pulsed fusion irradiations if it is recognized that the ions exaggerate the expected neutron effect