The thermal annealing of heavy ion damage in copper

Dislocation loops and three-dimensional vacancy clusters are created by 150 kev Zn + bombardment. The number of vacancies in them after successive isochronal anneals is measured by electron microscopy. At 200°c annealing is thought to take place by interstitial absorption. Thereafter, dislocation loops anneal with an activation energy close to that of self-diffusion, and clusters with an energy of about 1.3 ev.