Influence of gallium and germanium additions on the recovery stages in neutron irradiated aluminum

Abstract

Abstract Different dilute Al-Ge and Al-Ga alloys, of Ge and Ga from 200 to 20,000 ppm, have been irradiated in the reactor at helium temperature. The total neutron dose was 1.5 × 1018 n/cm2. The recovery curves of electrical resistivity of the Al-Ga alloys are similar to the Al-Ge alloys. When the concentration of Ge and Ga increases, the high temperature part of Stage I (ID and IE) decreases. This decrease should be associated with the trapping of the mobile interstitials by foreign atoms. Stage II is also modified by the Ge and Ga additions. In the substage above 100°K, which does not exist in pure aluminum, several new peaks appear which can be attributed to the dissociation of interstitial impurity complexes. Stage III is represented as a complex structure on the high temperature side, in the most concentrated alloys.