Al2O3 and MgAl2O4 as perspective radiation tolerant optical materials
Transparent materials with high tolerance to radiation are highly sought after as diagnostics/optical windows for various future fusion projects (ITER, DEMO, PROTO). Aluminium oxide (Al2O3) and magnesium aluminate spinel (MgAl2O4) are attractive candidates for this purpose and ave been studied via means of optical absorption, cathodoluminescence, thermally stimulated luminescence and EPR methods. It is generally accepted that the universal knock-on mechanism (elastic collisions of incident particles with crystal atoms/ions) of Frenkel defect creation is a ominant mechanism of radiation damage under metal oxide irradiation by fast neutrons. Therefore, the investigation of the creation of interstitial-vacancy Frenkel pairs and their aggregates under fission neutron irradiation as well as the processes of subsequent thermal annealing of radiation defects (i.e. material recovery) is of a special importance.