Emulating Radiation-Induced Defect Microstructures by Neutrons and Dark Matter Using Ions

The crossing of climate tipping points can lead to accelerated warming, requiring a more radical transformation of energy systems. Nuclear energy provides a practical and feasible solution that can be implemented quickly. However, the rate of radiation damage accumulation in fission reactors is low, making it difficult to reproduce long-term damage within reasonable experimental timescale. Emulation involves mimicking neutron-induced defect structures using surrogate particles. The research problem is whether this strategy can be reliably extended to more complex or hypothetical scenarios, such as new reactor designs, load-following regimes, and even direct detection of dark matter. This project assesses different conditions under which emulation is possible. The novel aspect of this work is applying the method of emulation of radiation damage to dark matter detection, creating a unified framework connecting materials science and astroparticle physics. This research can advance the fields of materials science and astroparticle physics by providing a novel framework for emulating radiation damage and detecting dark matter. The main methodology used was microstructural characterization, including line profile analysis and transmission electron microscopy. Our results show how minor irradiation-induced defects evolve under different conditions and in different materials. Proton irradiation experiments tested olivine's viability as a paleo-detector for dark matter. The radiation damage in olivine involved the formation of nanotwins and tracks, which were correlated with specific recoil energies. The objective of this project is to serve as a guideline for expanding radiation damage emulation into other fields. Further research should explore the emulation prospective across different particle interactions and broaden applications of this methodology.

Department dc:contributor.department

Mechanical and Materials Engineering

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Lucas, Thalles T. A.

Advisor dc:contributor.supervisor

• Balogh, Levente

• Radiation damage
• Nuclear materials
• X-ray Line profile analysis
• Satellite profile analysis
• Zirconium
• Paleo-detectors
• Dark Matter

Statement dc:rights

• Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1974/36021

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:queensu.scholaris.ca:1974/36021