Radiation-induced coherency loss in a Cu–Co alloy

Abstract It is shown that there is a size below which a coherent spherical precipitate cannot maintain a dislocation loop at its interface. There is also a size above which the incoherent (i.e. dislocated) state is stable with respect to the coherent state. Experiments in the electron microscope show that there is indeed a size above which a transition to incoherency can occur but that the observed critical size is bigger than that predicted theoretically. Reasons for this discrepancy are considered.