About

Jason Trelewicz is a Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering at Stony Brook University and recently transitioned to become an IACS core faculty member. His research focuses on the science of interface engineered alloys with particular emphasis on high-strength and radiation-tolerant nanomaterials for extreme environment applications. His research group, the Engineered Microstructures and Radiation Effects Laboratory, couples novel processing techniques and in situ characterization tools with large-scale atomistic simulations in the design of hierarchically structured metallic alloys. Materials including solute-stabilized nanocrystalline alloys, crystalline-amorphous nanolaminates, metallic glass matrix composites, and interface engineered amorphous alloys are synthesized through electroforming, sputter and pulsed laser deposition, and additive manufacturing techniques, and used to build a new understanding of mechanisms responsible for stability, mechanical behavior, and radiation tolerance. Prof. Trelewicz received his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2008. Prior to joining the faculty at Stony Brook University, he spent four years in industry as Research Director at MesoScribe Technologies, Inc. responsible for managing technology development and transition on over a dozen DOD, DOE, and NASA research programs. Prof. Trelewicz is an recipient of the 2017 DOE Early Career Award and 2016 NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award. He was also selected as the Inaugural Recipient of the Fusen and Yijen Chen Prize for Innovative Research in 2018, received the 2015 TMS Young Leader Professional Development Award, and was selected as a TMS representative for the 2014 Emerging Leaders Alliance Conference. He is an active member of the Materials Research Society (MRS), The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society (TMS), and ASM International.

Research topics

• Metallurgy
• Physics
• Composite material
• Materials science
• Computer Science
• Biochemical engineering
• Systems engineering
• Nuclear physics
• Molecular physics
• Engineering
• Chemistry
• Data science
• Nanotechnology

Selected publications

• Fragmenting Diffusion Pathways Confers Extraordinary Radiation Resistance in Refractory Multicomponent Alloys

  ArXiv.org · 2026-03-03

  articleOpen access

  The accumulation and growth of vacancy clusters under irradiation is a pivotal degradation mode for structural materials in extreme environments. Even tungsten undergoes rapid defect coarsening compromising its integrity. Here we show a tungsten multicomponent alloy that effectively fragments the vacancy diffusion network, kinetically trapping defects within localized domains. This effect originates from a broad spectrum of migration barriers and substantial vacancy-jump heterogeneity, which drives the interconnectivity of diffusion paths below the percolation threshold. Starving clusters of the necessary vacancy supply, irradiation experiments and atomic-scale defect characterizations confirm negligible defect growth as radiation doses increase by four orders of magnitude. These results provide a fundamental paradigm for percolation-engineered kinetics, offering a predictive pathway for tailoring defect diffusion and discovering inherently radiation-tolerant materials.

  PublisherOA PDF

• Fragmenting Diffusion Pathways Confers Extraordinary Radiation Resistance in Refractory Multicomponent Alloys

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2026-03-03

  preprintOpen access

  The accumulation and growth of vacancy clusters under irradiation is a pivotal degradation mode for structural materials in extreme environments. Even tungsten undergoes rapid defect coarsening compromising its integrity. Here we show a tungsten multicomponent alloy that effectively fragments the vacancy diffusion network, kinetically trapping defects within localized domains. This effect originates from a broad spectrum of migration barriers and substantial vacancy-jump heterogeneity, which drives the interconnectivity of diffusion paths below the percolation threshold. Starving clusters of the necessary vacancy supply, irradiation experiments and atomic-scale defect characterizations confirm negligible defect growth as radiation doses increase by four orders of magnitude. These results provide a fundamental paradigm for percolation-engineered kinetics, offering a predictive pathway for tailoring defect diffusion and discovering inherently radiation-tolerant materials.

  PublisherDOI

• A computational alloy design framework for the promotion of amorphous grain boundary complexions

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2026-04-22

  preprintOpen access

  Amorphous grain boundary complexions have been shown to be radiation tolerant interfaces that can also reduce grain boundary embrittlement, marking them as favorable microstructural features. However, the incorporation of these features into new alloy systems is often a slow and arduous process based on trial and error. Here, a computational framework for alloy design is presented which enables the selection of dopants that promote the formation of amorphous grain boundary complexions. This framework is primarily built on density functional theory calculations and is demonstrated for W-rich binary and ternary alloys, which represent a promising target for fusion energy materials. Our framework first evaluates the grain boundary segregation tendency of dopants and then the energy penalty for amorphization alongside targeted interfacial energy comparison, with the end goal of identifying the best dopants. For a W base, Y and some transition metals such as Co and Ni are found to significantly lower these energetic barriers. Electronic structure analysis, local lattice distortion, and charge density distributions are calculated and used to provide mechanistic explanations for these dopant selections. Finally, the framework is validated by comparing with experimental literature for W alloys and a refractory complex concentrated alloy, showing a strong correlation between our dopant selections and low sintering onset temperatures that have been attributed to activated sintering. As a whole, this work establishes a transferable pipeline for designing alloys with grain-boundary complexions across diverse alloy systems.

  PublisherDOI

• Grain boundary migration and shear accommodation controlled by disconnection mobility

  Acta Materialia · 2026-03-08

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• A computational alloy design framework for the promotion of amorphous grain boundary complexions

  ArXiv.org · 2026-04-22

  articleOpen access

  Amorphous grain boundary complexions have been shown to be radiation tolerant interfaces that can also reduce grain boundary embrittlement, marking them as favorable microstructural features. However, the incorporation of these features into new alloy systems is often a slow and arduous process based on trial and error. Here, a computational framework for alloy design is presented which enables the selection of dopants that promote the formation of amorphous grain boundary complexions. This framework is primarily built on density functional theory calculations and is demonstrated for W-rich binary and ternary alloys, which represent a promising target for fusion energy materials. Our framework first evaluates the grain boundary segregation tendency of dopants and then the energy penalty for amorphization alongside targeted interfacial energy comparison, with the end goal of identifying the best dopants. For a W base, Y and some transition metals such as Co and Ni are found to significantly lower these energetic barriers. Electronic structure analysis, local lattice distortion, and charge density distributions are calculated and used to provide mechanistic explanations for these dopant selections. Finally, the framework is validated by comparing with experimental literature for W alloys and a refractory complex concentrated alloy, showing a strong correlation between our dopant selections and low sintering onset temperatures that have been attributed to activated sintering. As a whole, this work establishes a transferable pipeline for designing alloys with grain-boundary complexions across diverse alloy systems.

  PublisherOA PDF

• Understanding The Impact of Laser Powder Bed Fusion Processing on the Sensitization of Austenitic 316L Stainless Steel Using Standardized Testing Procedures

  Research Square · 2026-01-14

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Ion irradiation-driven unit-cell expansion and strain accumulation behavior in magnesium oxide

  Journal of Applied Physics · 2026-03-05 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Ceramic oxides offer a range of advantageous characteristics for withstanding intense mixed radiation fields, and consequently, interest has grown in exploring their behavior for nuclear applications such as fuel matrices and waste forms. In this study, magnesium oxide (MgO) was irradiated with ions of varying species, energies, and fluences, and the resulting structural modifications were characterized using synchrotron-based x-ray diffraction (XRD) combined with grazing-incidence XRD. Across all irradiation conditions, unit-cell expansion was observed, increasing with fluence. The magnitude of expansion was most significant for ions that primarily lose energy through nuclear interactions and lowest for those dominated by electronic excitations, spanning nearly two orders of magnitude. Under highly ionizing conditions, lattice swelling was reduced, but microstrain accumulation was enhanced, suggesting that defects are more localized and contribute less to long-range structural changes. These findings reveal the distinct roles of nuclear and electronic energy loss in defect formation and provide mechanistic insight into radiation-induced modifications in MgO, with implications for the design of radiation-tolerant materials for advanced nuclear technologies. Finally, the framework we present—incorporating an irradiation matrix that spans both nuclear and electronic energy loss dominated regions, strengthened by advanced quantitative XRD characterization—is widely applicable to the study of defect physics in polycrystalline materials.

  PublisherDOI

• High Temperature Stabilization of Ultrafine Grain Tungsten Alloys Through Synergistic Compositional Complexities

  Acta Materialia · 2026-05-01

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Synergistic doping of the grain interior and grain boundary alters deformation mechanisms and enables extreme strength in nanocrystalline Ni-Cr-Y alloys

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2026-05-11

  preprintOpen access

  Solid solution addition and grain boundary segregation have been independently shown to enhance the strength of nanocrystalline alloys. In the present study, the synergy between these two effects is investigated in nanocrystalline Ni-Cr-Y sputtered films through systematic variation of alloying element contents with grain size kept constant. Cr is introduced into a solid solution and serves to strengthen the lattice, while Y segregates to the grain boundaries to stabilize these features. Nanoindentation is used to probe hardness, with unexpected trends and very high values observed. Cr additions led to nanocrystalline solid solution strengthening, yet saturation was observed at higher concentrations due to the emergence of grain boundary dominated processes, as evidenced by pile-up morphologies containing slip steps and grain rotation. Y segregated to the grain boundaries, enhancing boundary-mediated strengthening by pinning the dislocations and suppressing dislocation emission, grain boundary sliding, and grain rotation processes. With increasing Y concentration, the nanocrystalline solid solution strengthening effect induced by Cr addition becomes weaker. This phenomenon can be attributed to a reduced dislocation bowing distance caused by dopant pinning. Most notably, the strongest ternary Ni-Cr-Y alloy exhibited a hardness of 11.0 GPa, among the highest hardness values reported for single-phase Ni-based alloys. These findings highlight how tuning grain and grain boundary chemistry offers a viable strategy to control dislocation mechanics and improve the strength of nanocrystalline metals.

  PublisherDOI

• Irradiation-Driven Recrystallization in Fusion-Grade Tungsten: A Mesoscale, Microstructure-Aware Model

  ArXiv.org · 2026-02-20

  articleOpen access

  Tungsten (W) is the leading candidate material for plasma-facing components in fusion reactors, yet its upper operational temperature is limited by premature grain growth and recrystallization processes. Irradiation adds further complications by generating defect clusters and transmutation products that alter both the driving forces and kinetics of grain boundary motion. In this work, we develop a physics-based, multiscale framework that couples crystal plasticity, stochastic cluster dynamics, and discrete grain boundary dynamics to model the co-evolution of plastic deformation, irradiation damage, and grain growth in fusion-grade tungsten polycrystals. The approach enables simulations on realistic microstructures with arbitrary grain size and misorientation distributions, without recourse to mean-field simplifications. The model captures (i) the spatial heterogeneity of dislocation density distribution during hot working; (ii) irradiation-induced defect accumulation under fusion conditions, and (iii) the buildup of chemical and elastic driving forces for grain boundary migration and microstructural evolution. Parametric studies demonstrate the dominant influence that temperature has on thermally activated grain-boundary mobility, a weaker dependence on prior strain, and a pronounced retardation of recrystallization by rhenium segregation arising from neutron transmutation. Under fusion energy irradiation conditions, our framework predicts a substantial reduction of the effective recrystallization temperature relative to unirradiated microstructures, while Re production restores and even elevates this limit. By providing quantitative projections of recrystallization kinetics and in-service recrystallization temperatures, this work establishes a predictive tool for assessing the lifetime and operational envelope of W-based plasma-facing materials under fusion conditions.

  PublisherOA PDF

Recent grants

• CAREER: Interface Engineered Amorphous Alloys for Thermoplastic Forming of Ductile Bulk Metallic Glasses

  NSF · $500k · 2016–2022

• Collaborative Research: Tailoring the Stability and Deformation of Nanocrystalline Alloys through Hierarchical Engineering

  NSF · $216k · 2014–2018

• Elucidating the Mechanisms of Irradiation Induced Softening in Nanocrystalline BCC Metals

  NSF · $500k · 2018–2022

• Collaborative Research: Elucidating the Mechanics of Shear Delocalization in Metallic Glass Matrix Composites

  NSF · $215k · 2014–2017

Frequent coauthors

• William Cunningham

  22 shared

• David Sprouster

  20 shared

• L.L. Snead

  Stony Brook University

  18 shared

• Bin Cheng

  Civil Aviation University of China

  13 shared

• Brian D. Wirth

  Oak Ridge National Laboratory

  13 shared

• Khalid Hattar

  University of Tennessee at Knoxville

  13 shared

• Nicholas R. Brown

  Knoxville College

  12 shared

• S.J. Zinkle

  University of Tennessee at Knoxville

  12 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Physics

  University of California, San Diego

  1995

• M.S., Physics

  University of California, San Diego

  1992

• B.S., Physics

  University of California, San Diego

  1990

Awards & honors

• 2017 DOE Early Career Award
• 2016 NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award
• Inaugural Recipient of the Fusen and Yijen Chen Prize for In…
• 2015 TMS Young Leader Professional Development Award
• Selected as a TMS representative for the 2014 Emerging Leade…