Damage rates in electron irradiated au and dilute AuFe alloys

Resistivity damage rate measurements in electron irradiated pure gold and dilute gold iron alloys were used to gain more information on the thermal behaviour of Frenkel defects in gold. For irradiation temperatures between 12 K and 50 K two different types of defects were assumed for explaining the results. Type I is a stable defect whereas Type II annihilates by thermal activation during the irradiation. The observed annihilation kinetics suggests an explanation of the well-known continuous isochronal recovery of irradiated gold between 5 K and 200 K by Type II defect annihilation. The production rate of Type I defects is larger by about 100% in the dilute AuFe alloys even for 10ppm Fe content. This enhancement cannot be explained within the current Frenkel defect models. The Type II defect production is not measurably influenced by the presence of solutes.