The configuration and energetics of the mono-vacancy and self-interstitial of hcp zirconium, both in the ground state and the saddle-point configurations, are computed atomistically using the conjugate gradient method, from which the diffusion anisotropy difference (DAD) between the two types of defects is obtained. Based on this information, the growth rates of interstitial loops of different Burgers vectors in a zirconium foil irradiated in a high-voltage electron microscope and the stress-free in-reactor deformation rates in hcp zirconium are directly calculated. Experimental observations in both cases are shown to be well accounted for. The significance of the DAD effect is thus directly confirmed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.