Saturation phenomena in irradiated metals at low temperature

Production rates of the defects are reviewed on the high purity fcc metals (Al, Ni, Cu, Pd, Ag, Pt, and Au) as well as on the 'pure' non-fcc metals (Fe, Mo, Ta, W, Zr, and Sn), which are irradiated at 4.6 K with reactor neutrons up to a dose of about 1023 fast-neutrons/m2 (Research Reactor Munich, FRM). An anomalous negative deviation from a linear law (convex curvature) is recognized in Ni, Pd, Pt, and Fe. The isochronal recoveries of fcc metals are also reviewed, comparing them with previous lower-dose data; stage I decreases whereas stage III increases with increasing neutron dose. (orig.)