Experimental and theoretical study of solid solution stability under irradiation

The behavior of dilute alloys (Al-Zn, Al-Ag, Al-Si, Al-Ge and Al-Mg) under 1 MeV electron irradiation has been studied in a high voltage electron microscope. A phenomenon of homogeneous precipitation induced by irradiation in undersaturated solid solutions (Al-Zn, Al-Ag and Al-Si) has been discovered; the observed precipitates are either coherent or incoherent, but never associated with point defect sinks. The solubility limit is a function of irradiation temperature and flux; but, under irradiation, it does not behave as a true thermal solubility limit (without irradiation). The existing theories (kinetic or strictly thermodynamic) do not account for this phenomenon. It is shown that the irreversibility of the mutual recombination between trapped vacancies and mixed interstitials is the driving force of this homogeneous precipitation. Using a dilute solid solution model, we show that, under irradiation, the homogeneous stationary state, stable from a strictly thermodynamic point of view, can be unstable when the recombination reaction is taken into account. The solubility limit under irradiation is calculated with a nucleation-growth model taking account for this effect; it is proportional to the thermal solubility limit without irradiation. This model explains all the experimental observations