Damage rates in electron-irradiated gold

The interaction of gold interstitials with other point defects has been investigated by damage rate measurements in gold at irradiation temperatures between 5.2 and 220 K. At all irradiation temperatures the damage rate intially shows a strong nonlinear decrease with radiation−induced defect density which approximates a linear decrease at higher defect densities. At all irradiation temperatures the initial damage rate is reduced by quenched−in vacancies. Although these observations are consistent with several generally discussed interstitial production mechanisms, the results of irradiation doping experiments represent a serious contradiction against all models, which have been discussed before. A hypothesis, which overcomes this difficulty, is presented.