LAUSR

Abstract Radiation-induced precipitation has been examined in an Nb-stabilised austenitic stainless steel (AISI-348) during heavy ion irradiation in situ within a transmission electron microscope (TEM) at 1073 K. Selected-area electron diffraction (SAED), bright- and dark-field TEM were used to investigate the nature of the precipitates within the austenite phase ( γ -Fe). The crystal structure of the precipitates was investigated using TEM and matched with reference data for the Cr 23 C 6 phase. The results herein reported indicate that the concurrent formation of inert gas bubbles may accelerate clustering and precipitation kinetics in the austenite phase during irradiation.