Inducement process and mechanism of spinodal decomposition in electron-irradiated Au-Ni alloys

Abstract

Irradiation-induced spinodal decomposition has been investigated to clarify its basic mechanism which gives an insight into developing fusion materials. The drastic expansion of spinodal region up to the chemical spinodal temperature under irradiation has been reported in many systems, and successfully explained in terms of the relaxation of the coherent strain associated with the modulated structure. In the present study the Au-Ni system is used for observing the relaxation process because of its large coherency-strain energy. The relaxation process of coherent strain is examined through observations of the spacial distribution of dislocation loops and high-resolution structure images. It is concluded that a heterogeneous distribution of interstitials and vacancies contributes remarkably to the relaxation of the coherent strain.