Kenneth Cooper

Profile Information
Name
Dr. Kenneth Cooper
Institution
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Position
Associate Staff Irradiation Engineer
Affiliation
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
h-Index
3
ORCID
0009-0002-6180-980X
Biography
**Kenneth D. Cooper** is an R&D Associate Staff Irradiation Engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where he develops neutron irradiation experiments and advanced test platforms for nuclear materials and fuels in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). His research focuses on irradiation effects, corrosion, and coupled degradation mechanisms in structural materials and molten salt reactor systems, with an emphasis on developing experimental methodologies that enable mechanistic understanding of materials performance under extreme environments. He leads the development of passive and instrumented irradiation experiment designs, post-irradiation examination strategies, and in situ diagnostic capabilities for advanced reactor applications. Kenneth received the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and recently completed his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University.
Expertise
Alloys, Irradiation, Metal, Metallurgy, Nuclear Engineering, Phase, Stainless Steel, Structural
Publications:
"Abnormal grain growth driven by high-temperature proton irradiation in nanocrystalline Ni" Kelvin Xie, Kenneth Cooper, Yu Lu, Rijul Chauhan, Jana Howard, Yaqiao Wu, Lin Shao, Michael Demkowicz, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms Vol. 572 2026 166009 Link
In this study, we examine a nanocrystalline Ni thin film exposed to high-temperature proton irradiation and compare it with as-deposited and annealed-only counterparts. Despite lacking thermal spikes typical of heavy ions, 400 °C proton irradiation drives pronounced grain growth in select grains, whereas annealing alone yields only modest coarsening. Grain-boundary statistics show fewer low-angle boundaries (10–20°) and more high-angle boundaries (55–60°), consistent with irradiation-enhanced mobility of high-misorientation boundaries. The irradiated films retain a random texture, with no evidence of texture development or sharpening. Mechanisms, such as radiation-enhanced grain boundary diffusion, beam-induced heating, and ion channeling-mediated selective grain growth, are unlikely to be the predominant drivers to explain the resultant microstructure. Instead, we suggest irradiation-induced modifications of grain-boundary structure, including possible complexion transitions, as one plausible explanation for this selective grain growth and retention of random texture. However, additional temperature–dose studies are required to confirm the mechanism.