Quenched-in Lattice Defects in Gold

High-purity gold wires of 16- and 30-mil diameters were heated to temperatures in the range from 450°C to 1000°C and then quenched to room temperature in water. The time required for the cooling was between 10 and 50 milliseconds. An increase in the residual resistivity was observed which could be described by the equation $\Delta \rho =A{e}^{-\frac{E_F}{K{T}_Q}}$. Here $\Delta \rho$ is the extra resistivity, $A$ is a constant equal to (4.9±1.0)×${10}^{-4\mathrm{}}$ ohm cm, $E_F$ is an energy of formation equal to 0.98±0.03 ev, $K$ is Boltzmann's constant, and $T_Q$ is the temperature from which the quench was made. The resistivity increase annealed in the neighborhood of 40°C with an activation energy for motion ranging from 0.82±0.05 ev for a quench from 700°C to 0.60±0.04 ev for a quench from 1000°C. The annealing kinetics were first order for quenches from 700°C and below but were more complex for quenches from above this temperature. The "half-anneal" times at 40°C ranged from 140 hr for a quench from 700°C to ½ hr for a quench from 1000°C. During the anneals a decrease in specimen length was observed which was at all times proportional to the decrease of the extra resistivity, both for the quenches having first-order annealing kinetics and those having the more complicated annealing behavior. The proportionality constant between the resistivity changes and the fractional-length changes was about 1.1×${10}^{-3\mathrm{}}$ ohm cm.