In Situ Studies on Twin-Thickness-Dependent Distribution of Defect Clusters in Heavy Ion-Irradiated Nanotwinned Ag

Recent studies have shown that twin boundaries are effective defect sinks in heavy ion irradiated nanotwinned (nt) metals. Prior in situ radiation studies on nt Ag at room temperature indicate that the accumulative defect concentration is higher in center areas in the 60-nm-thick twins, and twin boundaries are distorted and self-heal during the absorption of different types of defect clusters. In this follow-up study, we show that the spatial distribution of accumulative defect concentrations in nt metals has a clear dependence on twin thickness, and in certain cases, the trend of spatial distribution is reversed. Potential mechanisms for the counterintuitive findings are discussed.