Phase stability criteria for ion and neutron irradiated alloys

Alloy precipitates under heavy ion or neutron irradiation are always subject to recoil dissolution and interdiffusional restoration. The stability criteria are derived with respect to these two mechanisms by taking into account the various conditions for defect annihilation. Based upon various experimental results, the restoration process is assumed to depend on the cascade size. This dependence causes, in turn, a strong dependence of the stability limits on the cascade size. As a consequence, simulation of one kind of irradiation by another must be carefully considered with respect to details of cascade size and structure, when phase stability problems are involved. (orig.)