Simulation of ion track ranges in uranium oxide

TL;DR

This paper presents REED-MD simulations of ion-tracks in uranium dioxide, showing near-perfect agreement with experimental measurements for polycrystalline samples, advancing understanding of ion implantation in nuclear materials.

Contribution

It introduces the use of REED-MD for accurately simulating ion ranges in uranium dioxide, accounting for crystalline structures and matching experimental data.

Findings

REED-MD simulations align closely with experimental data for polycrystalline uranium dioxide.

Simulations effectively model ion range densities across 100-800 keV energies.

The method improves understanding of ion implantation in nuclear fuel materials.

Abstract

Direct comparisons between statistically sound simulations of ion-tracks and published experimental measurements of range densities of iodine implants in uranium dioxide have been made with implant energies in the range of 100-800 keV. Our simulations are conducted with REED-MD (Rare Event Enhanced Domain-following Molecular Dynamics) in order to account for the materials structure in both single crystalline and polycrystalline experimental samples. We find near-perfect agreement between REED-MD results and experiments for polycrystalline target materials.