Effects of the primary recoil spectrum on long-range migration of defects

For quantitative predictions and comparisons of microstructures that evolve during exposure to different radiation environments at elevated temperature one needs to develop methods that go beyond those based on the number of displacements per atom. The number of freely migrating defects that contribute to the microstructural development is far less than the total number of defects produced, as has been recognised for some time from measurements of radiation-induced segregation and of radiation-enhanced diffusion. Defect production in various neutron and ion irradiation environments is discussed in light of this fact. A method to calculate the fraction of freely migrating defects from the cluster size distribution of defects produced in cascades is suggested. The results are in good agreement with available data. (author)