The effect of deuterium and tritium on formation and annealing of vacancy‐type defects in deformed nickel

Abstract

AbstractPure nickel and nickel loaded with deuterium or tritium were examined during deformation at 270–300 K to 3–45% and subsequent annealing up to 850 K using the measurements of the electrical resistivity and positron annihilation spectroscopy. Three‐dimensional vacancy clusters were formed during deformation in nickel loaded with the hydrogen isotopes unlike in pure nickel. Vacancy clusters decorated with deuterium or tritium atoms created at room temperature, i.e. below a temperature at which monovacancies, are mobile in nickel. Vacancy clusters decorated with deuterium atoms have two types of atomic configurations or degrees of decoration with the binding energy of 0.73 eV and 1.05 eV, respectively. Only one configuration having the binding energy of 1.05 eV was detected for vacancy clusters decorated with tritium atoms. Possible reasons for different behaviors of vacancy clusters in T‐ and D‐loaded nickel are also discussed. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)