{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/121710"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/121710","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Nanoscopic materials response to radiation and corrosion environments","abstract":"In this thesis, computational and experimental techniques are developed to study the response of materials to radiation and corrosion environments at nanoscale, respectively. Firstly, controlled ion radiation has become a popular tool for the fabrication and modification of nanostructured materials as well as understanding materials degradation in radiation environment. Here we aim to overcome a major limitation in current 1D Monte Carlo simulation codes for ion radiation, i.e., the incapability to predict the primary radiation damage in nanoscale ion implantation experiments. A prototype code in MATLAB named \"Mat-TRIM\", and a more advanced code in C-language named \"IM3D\", are developed to accurately capture the key physics of ion-mater interaction in nano-structured materials in three-dimensions (3D). Using IM3D, we revealed the nano-beam and nano-target effect of ion radiation.","abstract_html":"In this thesis, computational and experimental techniques are developed to study the response of materials to radiation and corrosion environments at nanoscale, respectively. Firstly, controlled ion radiation has become a popular tool for the fabrication and modification of nanostructured materials as well as understanding materials degradation in radiation environment. Here we aim to overcome a major limitation in current 1D Monte Carlo simulation codes for ion radiation, i.e., the incapability to predict the primary radiation damage in nanoscale ion implantation experiments. A prototype code in MATLAB named "Mat-TRIM", and a more advanced code in C-language named "IM3D", are developed to accurately capture the key physics of ion-mater interaction in nano-structured materials in three-dimensions (3D). Using IM3D, we revealed the nano-beam and nano-target effect of ion radiation.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Yang, Yang"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":"Doctoral","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Ju Li."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019","date_published":"2019","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:31Z","subjects":["Nuclear Science and Engineering."],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission."],"rights_urls":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/121710","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Ju Li."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering","NucEng"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.other","label":"Dc Contributor Other","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Yang, Yang"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2019-07-15T20:37:12Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-07-15T20:37:12Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2019"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctoral"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Nuclear Science and Engineering."]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission."]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/121710"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.","Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2019","Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.","Includes bibliographical references (pages 181-205)."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In this thesis, computational and experimental techniques are developed to study the response of materials to radiation and corrosion environments at nanoscale, respectively. Firstly, controlled ion radiation has become a popular tool for the fabrication and modification of nanostructured materials as well as understanding materials degradation in radiation environment. Here we aim to overcome a major limitation in current 1D Monte Carlo simulation codes for ion radiation, i.e., the incapability to predict the primary radiation damage in nanoscale ion implantation experiments. A prototype code in MATLAB named \"Mat-TRIM\", and a more advanced code in C-language named \"IM3D\", are developed to accurately capture the key physics of ion-mater interaction in nano-structured materials in three-dimensions (3D). Using IM3D, we revealed the nano-beam and nano-target effect of ion radiation.","We then quantified the relative error of 1D approach in several classical examples, showing significant relative errors of more than 1000% when the beam/target- size is close to or smaller than the range of ions, indicating the necessity of full-3D simulations. We also observed a topological evolution of point defects' distributions in 3D when beam-size varies. Also, radiation is a powerful characterization tool. In particular, in-situ environmental transmission electron microscopy (E-TEM) technique, using electron radiation for imaging, enables direct observation of materials corrosion at nano/atomic resolution. Using this technique, we directly visualized the deformation of 2nm-thick surface oxide on aluminum nanotips under oxygen environment. We showed the native aluminum oxide can deform like liquid and self-heal its branches quickly at room temperature, rendering a continuous oxide layer without fracture/spallation during deformation.","We also developed a \"mechanical-break-junction\" method to overcome the difficulty of preparing fresh metal surface in a TEM for initial oxidation studies. A contrast experiment to aluminum oxidation is performed for zirconium alloy, a metal which is used as the cladding in water-cooled reactors. We in-situ observed the oxidation-induced crack/pore evolution at nanoscale. The crack/pores in oxide will form a percolated network, leading to the failure of oxide as a passivation layer. Our observations demonstrated that the plasticity of metal oxide is crucial for the oxidation resistance of metals."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Ph. D."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Nanoscopic materials response to radiation and corrosion environments"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Ju Li."],"dc:contributor.department":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering","NucEng"],"dc:contributor.other":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering."],"dc:creator":["Yang, Yang"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2019-07-15T20:37:12Z"],"dc:date.available":["2019-07-15T20:37:12Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2019"],"dc:description":["This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.","Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2019","Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.","Includes bibliographical references (pages 181-205)."],"dc:description.abstract":["In this thesis, computational and experimental techniques are developed to study the response of materials to radiation and corrosion environments at nanoscale, respectively. Firstly, controlled ion radiation has become a popular tool for the fabrication and modification of nanostructured materials as well as understanding materials degradation in radiation environment. Here we aim to overcome a major limitation in current 1D Monte Carlo simulation codes for ion radiation, i.e., the incapability to predict the primary radiation damage in nanoscale ion implantation experiments. A prototype code in MATLAB named \"Mat-TRIM\", and a more advanced code in C-language named \"IM3D\", are developed to accurately capture the key physics of ion-mater interaction in nano-structured materials in three-dimensions (3D). Using IM3D, we revealed the nano-beam and nano-target effect of ion radiation.","We then quantified the relative error of 1D approach in several classical examples, showing significant relative errors of more than 1000% when the beam/target- size is close to or smaller than the range of ions, indicating the necessity of full-3D simulations. We also observed a topological evolution of point defects' distributions in 3D when beam-size varies. Also, radiation is a powerful characterization tool. In particular, in-situ environmental transmission electron microscopy (E-TEM) technique, using electron radiation for imaging, enables direct observation of materials corrosion at nano/atomic resolution. Using this technique, we directly visualized the deformation of 2nm-thick surface oxide on aluminum nanotips under oxygen environment. We showed the native aluminum oxide can deform like liquid and self-heal its branches quickly at room temperature, rendering a continuous oxide layer without fracture/spallation during deformation.","We also developed a \"mechanical-break-junction\" method to overcome the difficulty of preparing fresh metal surface in a TEM for initial oxidation studies. A contrast experiment to aluminum oxidation is performed for zirconium alloy, a metal which is used as the cladding in water-cooled reactors. We in-situ observed the oxidation-induced crack/pore evolution at nanoscale. The crack/pores in oxide will form a percolated network, leading to the failure of oxide as a passivation layer. Our observations demonstrated that the plasticity of metal oxide is crucial for the oxidation resistance of metals."],"dc:description.degree":["Ph. D."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/121710"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"dc:rights":["MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission."],"dc:rights.uri":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"dc:subject":["Nuclear Science and Engineering."],"dc:title":["Nanoscopic materials response to radiation and corrosion environments"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctoral"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:31Z"}