FIB Preparation and TEM Characterization of Materials for Nuclear Industry

Dear Colleagues,

As of today, UO2 represents the most commonly used fuel material in nuclear power reactors, and since nuclear fuels must operate safely for years exposed to severe radiation damage conditions, the ability to fully understand the impact of defect creation on their physicochemical properties is fundamental. Sample preparation is a critical step for any successful TEM analysis, in particular when the aim is to detect and characterize defects on a scale within the nanometer range, and although focused ion beam (FIB) milling is a well-established technique in this sense, its efficiency is strongly material dependent. Uranium-based materials are particularly challenging, due to their physical characteristics rendering the thinning process extremely time consuming and delicate. 

TEM represents a key analytical technique, widely used for characterization through imaging, based on both diffraction and phase contrast mechanisms, and x-ray and energy-loss dispersive spectroscopies, despite both the intrinsic and practical limitations imposed by the radioactive nature of the specimens.

The present Special Issue aims to provide an overview of the state of the art in this field, as well as to present the most recent results.  

Here, we present a collection of research works and review papers exhibiting new results, dealing with experimental challenges and proposing original solutions.

I am delighted to invite you to submit original research papers, short communications and state-of-the-art reviews for this Special Issue.

Dr. Alessandro Benedetti
Dr. Thierry Wiss
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• FIB
• TEM
• nuclear materials
• radiation damage
• UO2
• fission products
• ga implantation
• HREM
• MOX fuel