Recombination efficiency of vacancies and self-interstitials in a concentrated AgZn alloy

A novel approach was devised for the determination of the recombination efficiency of vacancies and self-interstitials. It is based on the performance of anelasticity experiments to measure the rate at which directional order is established in ordering alloys. This method applies specifically to concentrated substitutional alloys. It is shown that it enables us to explore a wide temperature region above stage III, a domain in which data are scarce. Application to a Ag-30 at.% Zn solid solution is presented. Experiments were conducted during electron irradiation at a constant flux rate or after flux was suppressed. The recombination reaction constants were measured at a series of temperatures ranging between 200 and 350 K. The inferred capture radius is about six interatomic distances at the highest temperature examined, 340 K. Its variation with temperature is analyzed and discussed.