Combined ion (Ar+, 20 keV) and light irradiation of the quenched Fe-8.25 at % Mn alloy. Separation between thermal and radiation induced long-range effects

Abstract

Mössbauer and X-ray diffraction investigations of the radiation-induced α → γ phase transformation and short-range-order formation processes in the quenched Fe-8.25 at % Mn alloy under combined exposure (simultaneous visible light and Ar+ 20-keV ion beam irradiation) are carried out. Combined exposure made it possible to fix the target stationary temperature, and hence, the intensity of thermally-stimulated processes; an energy and ion current density could independently be varied in a wide range. As a result, an important contribution of a non-thermal constituent of ion beam exposure to the structural state of alloy was proved. Only in the presence of ion beam, an α → γ (bcc → fcc) phase transformation and accelerated intraphase processes preparing this transformation are observed in the deep layers of the target (about 103 Rp). With allowance for the relatively low level of thermally and radiation-stimulated processes, radiation-dynamic effects associated with propagation of intense post-cascade solitary waves, which can rearrange metastable matters, are considered as the cause of the observed transformations.