Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Abstract In recent years, significant attention has focused on evaluating the behavior of plasma-facing materials (PFMs) in fusion reactors under various irradiation conditions. However, research on how PFMs respond when in electronically excited states, particularly under exposure to high-energy photon irradiation from high-temperature plasma, remains limited. In this study, we enhanced a previously developed tight-binding potential model to investigate the effects of photon irradiation on the dynamic evolution of tungsten (W) PFM during cascades induced by neutron irradiation, where both the electron system and lattice are in a non-equilibrium state. Our findings reveal that the excited electrons in W transfer a portion of their energy to the lattice, significantly intensifying cascade events. Simultaneously, these cascades disrupt pre-existing defect aggregations, thereby reducing defect accumulation. This research provides insights into the non-equilibrium evolution of W materials under irradiation, highlighting the intricate interactions among multiple types of particles.
Wang et al. (Tue,) studied this question.