The structural properties of Zirconia (ZrO2) and spinel (MgAl2O4) single cr
ystals doped by ion implantation with fission products (Cs and I) were inve
stigated by using the Rutherford backscattering and channeling techniques.
The implantation process induces a heavy damage in the various sublattices
of the ceramic matrices above a fluence of about 10(15) at. cm(-2), corresp
onding to a number of displacements per atom (dpa) of about 1-2, Large valu
es of the Cs and I substitutional fractions, attributed to the formation of
impurity-vacancy complexes, are obtained at impurity concentrations lower
than 0.5 at.%. The substitutional fraction decreases with increasing implan
tation fluence. This effect, which is more pronounced for I than for Cs ion
s, is likely due to precipitation or compound formation. (C) 2000 Elsevier
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