The stage iii recovery in electron-irradiated aluminum

We have studied the irradiation-produced resistivity recovery of 99.9999% pure annealed and prequenched aluminum foils. The prequenched specimen exhibited two distinct recovery peaks, at 245 °K and 320 °K (Stage IV), whereas the unquenched specimen exhibited only one peak at 255 °K (Stage III). The average activation energy of the Stage III recovery, analyzed by the Meechan-Brinkman method, was found to be 0.58 eV. The order of reaction kinetics was found to be a function of the recovery. The implications of these results on existing recovery models are discussed.