Measurement of Diffusion of Gold in Copper by Elastic Scattering of Deuteron

A silicon semiconductor radiation detector has been used to study the diffusion of Au into Cu in the temperature range 356°~440°C by detecting elastically scattered deuterons. In the above temperature range, the measured diffusion coefficients of Au into Cu are somewhat larger than the results of Sippel's experiments, while the activation energy of the diffusion is roughly the same. Diffusion lengths as small as 2×10−7cm can be measured by the present method, which may make it possible to detect the effects of radiation damage on diffusion phenomena in metals.