Irradiation induced transformations in amorphous Cu/Ta and Cu/W alloys

Studying the response of amorphous alloys to ion irradiation may lead to a better understanding of why certain alloy systems can be made amorphous by ion mixing. A recent rule has been proposed, stating that whenever an alloy system can be made amorphous by vapor quenching, ion beam techniques will also produce an amorphous phase if the appropriate parameters are used. To test this rule, coevaporated amorphous alloys in the Cu/W and Cu/Ta system were prepared and their response to ion irradiation and thermal annealing was examined. The Cu/W and Cu/Ta alloy systems were chosen because they are both known to be immiscible, but have exhibited dramatic differences during ion beam mixing experiments