Ability of cubic zirconia to accommodate radiation damage

Cubic zirconia irradiated with medium-energy heavy ions exhibits a three-step damage build-up. Each step is characterized by radiation-defect reorganization that occurs to lower the system energy. The last step at high irradiation fluence is characterized by a quite unusual decrease in the damage fraction, during which the formation of defect-depleted regions is clearly evidenced. This surprising partial damage recovery is associated with a decrease in the density of tangled dislocations, which tend to form long dislocations that act as defect sinks.