Electrical and dielectric properties of irradiated KU1 quartz glass from DC to 145 GHz

To characterize and examine the possible use of the KU1 quartz glass for both diagnostic and remote handling applications, the radiation induced conductivity and electrical degradation (RIC & RIED), together with dielectric loss and permittivity (10 mHz–145 GHz) have been determined for as-received, electron and neutron irradiated material. Results show that the RIC is extremely low (<10 ⁻⁸ S/m compared with about 10 ⁻⁷ S/m) for candidate oxide materials at the same dose rate, but markedly increases for doses up to about 3×10 ⁻⁵ dpa while the conductivity without radiation is reduced with dose. Dielectric measurements from 1 kHz to 20 GHz during electron irradiation show that prompt effects are only observed at very low frequencies, consistent with the low RIC results. For neutron irradiation to 10 ⁻⁴ dpa, post-irradiation measurements indicate a permanent increase in loss by up to a factor of 2 below 60 MHz. No effect is observed in the GHz range.