Abstract
The influence of high-energy oxygen and argon ions irradiation on the structure and conductive properties of YSZ of various composition has been studied. It was shown that irradiation with YSZ ions causes minor failures in the structure of the near-surface regions of complex oxide, but does not cause any change in the type of crystal lattice. Apparently, the latter is due to the fact that both defects and implanted ions are mainly located quite deep from the surface of YSZ. Along with this, high radiation resistance of YSZ near-surface layers with the concentration of Y2O3of 10 and 15 mol. %, is apparently due to the high concentration of oxygen vacancies in the initial unirradiated materials, which act as effective recombination centers for defects formed during irradiation. In the samples of ZrO2+ 3 mol. % Y2O3composition, the concentration of vacancies is lower, and during irradiation there is a notable yield of oxygen from YSZ along with recombination. This leads to decrease in oxygen concentration and increase in zirconium concentration on the surface of the complex oxide. The values of the activation energies of the oxygen-ionic conductivity of the studied materials have been determined. It was noted that irradiation of YSZ with heavy ions in some cases can cause the improvement in the oxygen-ionic conductivity of these materials.