Effects of 1 meV electron irradiation on Ni3Al

The behaviour of ordered intermetallic compounds under irradiation is of interest on several counts. Firstly, they belong to an important class of materials that contain a large concentration of alloying elements, in contrast to dilute alloys. Secondly, the changes in the degree of order during irradiation may give useful quantitative data that can be used to monitor the irradiation damage or recovery processes. Finally, ordered intermetallic compounds have potential applications for high temperature components and are frequently employed in alloys to give dispersion strengthening. The irradiation response of the Ll/sub 2/ intermetallic Zr/sub 3/Al has recently been subject to several, fairly detailed experimental studies. Ni/sub 3/Al is another strongly ordered intermetallic compound with the same crystal structure and is an important constituent of the nickel-based superalloys. A broad survey of the behaviour of Ni/sub 3/Al during electron irradiation in a high voltage electron microscope (HVM) is presented