scholarly journals Irradiation-Induced Amorphization and Elastic Shear Instability in Intermetallic Compounds

1989 ◽  
Vol 157 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Koike ◽  
P. R. Okamoto ◽  
L. E. Rehn ◽  
R. Bhadra ◽  
M. H. Grimsditch ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTPreviously we reported a substantial (∼ 50 %) decrease in shear modulus prior to amorphization in Kr irradiated Zr3Al, and proposed that amorphization is triggered when the crystalline lattice becomes unstable against shear stress. In the present work, the relation between amorphization and shear elastic instability has been investigated in two additional compounds (FeTi and NiAl) during room temperature irradiation with 1.7-MeV Kr+. A shear modulus was measured using Brillouin scattering; structural information was obtained in situ in a high voltage electron microscope interfaced to a tandem accelerator.During irradiation of FeTi, chemical disordering and a large (∼40 %) decrease of shear modulus were observed, and an amorphous phase developed subsequently. In contrast, NiAl remained crystalline and chemically ordered during irradiation, and exhibited only a ∼ 10 % decrease in shear modulus. Hence, these two results provide further support that a shear instability triggers irradiation-induced amorphization. The shear instability mechanism may also apply to other solid-state amorphization techniques, e.g. hydrogen charging and mechanical deformation.

Author(s):  
P. R. Okamoto

Many ordered intermetallic compounds become amorphous when irradiated at low temperatures with energetic particles. There is still no fundamental understanding of why some compounds but not others are susceptible to amorphization. However, recent studies indicate that a progressive loss of chemical long-range order (LRO) is a necessary, though not a sufficient condition for the crystal-to-glass transformation. To shed further light on the role of chemical disordering, our work has focused on correlating the structural effects of chemical disorder on the shear modulus of a number of LI2, B2, and A-15 type intermetallic compounds under irradiation conditions where some become amorphous and others remain crystalline.The Brillouin scattering technique was used to measure the change in the velocity of sound (Vs) relative to that of the unirradiated state (Vos) in Zr3Al, FeAl, FeTi, NiAl, and Nb3Ir during irradiation at 298 K with 1-MeV Kr+ ions. The corresponding changes in the Bragg-Williams LRO parameter (S/So), and lattice expansion (Δa/ao) were measured by means of electron diffracting during in-situ irradiation with 1-MeV Kr in the ANL high voltage electron microscope.


Author(s):  
L.M. Wang ◽  
R.C. Birtcher

Although it was initially thought that irradiation could not further damage an amorphous material, an anomalous ion-induced morphological instability on the surface of amorphous Ge has been reported previously by several authors. In this study, the structural and morphological changes of Ge were monitored during 1.5 MeV Kr ion irradiation by in situ TEM to obtain insight into the damage evolution in ion-irradiated Ge.The in situ study was performed on the HVEM-Tandem Accelerator Facility at Argonne National Laboratory. The facility consists of a modified Kratos/AEI EM7 high voltage electron microscope (HVEM) and a 2 MV tandem ion accelerator. The samples were jet-polished polycrystalline Ge (99.99999 at. % pure) TEM discs with grain size > 5 μm in dimension. The Kr ion irradiation was carried out at room temperature, and the electron energy of the HVEM was 300 kV. According to a TRIM computer simulation, over 99% of the Kr ions penetrate through the electron transparent areas of the Ge sample, and a dose of 1×1015 Kr/cm2 created an average of ∽4 displacements per atom and an average Kr concentration of ∽12 appm in the observation region of the sample.


MRS Bulletin ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 41-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nghi Q. Lam ◽  
Paul R. Okamoto

The crystalline-to-amorphous (c-a) phase transformation can be induced by a variet of solid-state processes ranging from energetic particle irradiation, interface inter diffusion reactions, hydrogen charging and mechanical deformation to the application of high pressures. During the past decade, such transformations have become the focus of considerable research not only because of their potential technological applications, but also because of strong scientific interest in the relationship between the c-a transition and the melting process.A common feature underlies all solid state amorphization processes: The atomic disorder created in the crystalline lattice in the form of static atomic displacement can induce volume change and elastic softening of the lattice. A particularly striking example of the softening effect is shown in Figure 1 for the case of radiation-induced amorphization of the intermetallic compound Zr3Al. The compound, which has the Ll2 (Cu3Au)-type superlattice structure, was irradiated with energetic ion at room temperature in a high-voltage electron microscope interfaced to a tandem ion accelerator. The rapid decrease in the intensities of both fundamental and superlattice reflections show that irradiation introduces antisite defects (chemical disorder) as well as static atomic displacements. The disordering of the long-range ordered structure, which occurs prior to the onset of amorphization, is accompanied by a volume expansion of about 2.5% and a ~25% decrease in the average velocity of sound. This decrease in sound velocity corresponds to a ~50% decrease in the average shear modulus, which is comparable to that observed for many metals during heating to melting. The volume dependence of this disorder-induced elastic softening is also similar to that associated with heating. In both cases, the shear modulus is a linearly decreasing function of volume expansion. However, for a given amount of expansion, the softening associated with static atomic displacements is nearly twice as large as that associated with increasing anharmonic lattice vibrations.


Author(s):  
D. Caillard ◽  
J.L. Martin

The behaviour of the dislocation substructure during the steady stage regime of creep, as well as its contribution to the creep rate, are poorly known. In particular, the stability of the subboundaries has been questioned recently, on the basis of experimental observations |1||2| and theoretical estimates |1||3|. In situ deformation experiments in the high voltage electron microscope are well adapted to the direct observation of this behaviour. We report here recent results on dislocation and subboundary properties during stationary creep of an aluminium polycristal at 200°C.During a macroscopic creep test at 200°C, a cell substructure is developed with an average cell size of a few microns. Microsamples are cut out of these specimens |4| with the same tensile axis, and then further deformed in the microscope at the same temperature and stain rate. At 1 MeV, one or a few cells can be observed in the foil thickness |5|. Low electron fluxes and an image intensifier were used to reduce radiation damage effects.


Author(s):  
J. A. Pollock ◽  
M. Martone ◽  
T. Deerinck ◽  
M. H. Ellisman

Localization of specific proteins in cells by both light and electron microscopy has been facilitate by the availability of antibodies that recognize unique features of these proteins. High resolution localization studies conducted over the last 25 years have allowed biologists to study the synthesis, translocation and ultimate functional sites for many important classes of proteins. Recently, recombinant DNA techniques in molecular biology have allowed the production of specific probes for localization of nucleic acids by “in situ” hybridization. The availability of these probes potentially opens a new set of questions to experimental investigation regarding the subcellular distribution of specific DNA's and RNA's. Nucleic acids have a much lower “copy number” per cell than a typical protein, ranging from one copy to perhaps several thousand. Therefore, sensitive, high resolution techniques are required. There are several reasons why Intermediate Voltage Electron Microscopy (IVEM) and High Voltage Electron Microscopy (HVEM) are most useful for localization of nucleic acids in situ.


Author(s):  
W. E. King

A side-entry type, helium-temperature specimen stage that has the capability of in-situ electrical-resistivity measurements has been designed and developed for use in the AEI-EM7 1200-kV electron microscope at Argonne National Laboratory. The electrical-resistivity measurements complement the high-voltage electron microscope (HVEM) to yield a unique opportunity to investigate defect production in metals by electron irradiation over a wide range of defect concentrations.A flow cryostat that uses helium gas as a coolant is employed to attain and maintain any specified temperature between 10 and 300 K. The helium gas coolant eliminates the vibrations that arise from boiling liquid helium and the temperature instabilities due to alternating heat-transfer mechanisms in the two-phase temperature regime (4.215 K). Figure 1 shows a schematic view of the liquid/gaseous helium transfer system. A liquid-gas mixture can be used for fast cooldown. The cold tip of the transfer tube is inserted coincident with the tilt axis of the specimen stage, and the end of the coolant flow tube is positioned without contact within the heat exchanger of the copper specimen block (Fig. 2).


Author(s):  
Wilfried Sigle ◽  
Matthias Hohenstein ◽  
Alfred Seeger

Prolonged electron irradiation of metals at elevated temperatures usually leads to the formation of large interstitial-type dislocation loops. The growth rate of the loops is proportional to the total cross-section for atom displacement,which is implicitly connected with the threshold energy for atom displacement, Ed . Thus, by measuring the growth rate as a function of the electron energy and the orientation of the specimen with respect to the electron beam, the anisotropy of Ed can be determined rather precisely. We have performed such experiments in situ in high-voltage electron microscopes on Ag and Au at 473K as a function of the orientation and on Au as a function of temperature at several fixed orientations.Whereas in Ag minima of Ed are found close to <100>,<110>, and <210> (13-18eV), (Fig.1) atom displacement in Au requires least energy along <100>(15-19eV) (Fig.2). Au is thus the first fcc metal in which the absolute minimum of the threshold energy has been established not to lie in or close to the <110> direction.


Author(s):  
E. Holzäpfel ◽  
F. Phillipp ◽  
M. Wilkens

During in-situ radiation damage experiments aiming on the investigation of vacancy-migration properties interstitial-type dislocation loops are used as probes monitoring the development of the point defect concentrations. The temperature dependence of the loop-growth rate v is analyzed in terms of reaction-rate theory yielding information on the vacancy migration enthalpy. The relation between v and the point-defect production rate P provides a critical test of such a treatment since it is sensitive to the defect reactions which are dominant. If mutual recombination of vacancies and interstitials is the dominant reaction, vαP0.5 holds. If, however, annihilation of the defects at unsaturable sinks determines the concentrations, a linear relationship vαP is expected.Detailed studies in pure bcc-metals yielded vαPx with 0.7≾×≾1.0 showing that besides recombination of vacancies and interstitials annihilation at sinks plays an important role in the concentration development which has properly to be incorporated into the rate equations.


Soft Matter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Tighe ◽  
Karsten Baumgarten

We determine how low frequency vibrational modes control the elastic shear modulus of Mikado networks, a minimal mechanical model for semi-flexible fiber networks. From prior work it is known that...


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