Change of electrical properties of alloys and excitation of low-temperature atom mobility by ion bombardment

Ion irradiation-induced decomposition of Al + 4 wt. % Cu supersaturated solid solution

“…Metastable media with high stored energy, including supersaturated solid solutions as it has been shown by the present investigation, cold-worked materials [11] and alloys disordered by quenching or plastic deformation [7,11], undergo maximum influence. Ion irradiation initiates fast-going (selfpropagating into the depth of the material) processes transforming such media into the states with lower free energy.…”

“…For comparison, the characteristic time of explosive energy release in a nuclear and in a chemical explosion is ~10 -8 and 10 -5 s, respectively. As it was shown in [7,9,11], the structural and phase transformations in metastable media with increased stored energy cover macroscopic volumes of the material and occur with high rates (often within several seconds of exposure) at rather small fluences (D = 10 15 -10 16 cm -2…”

“…The processes of phase formation/dissolution [11], atomic ordering and delamination [6,7,10], recrystallization of cold deformed materials [9,11] (accompanied with explosive transformation of dislocation structure, with formation of point defects and activation of grain boundaries) and some others effects take place at anomalously low temperatures (100-200 °C below of similar thermostimulated processes).…”

“…Investigation of alloys displaying various types of structural phase [6,7] and intra-phase transformations caused by ion irradiation deserves attention. This relates in particular to the formation of new phases by diffusion [7,9] and diffusion-free mechanisms [4,6], including details of the initial stages of transformation, e.g., irradiation-induced disperse phase nucleation and precipitation.…”

“…Many experimental facts [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] gathered in the course of studying different properties and microstructure of ion-implanted materials testify to the fact that the effect of accelerated ion beams on materials is not limited to the ions penetration zone, but extends to much greater distances.…”