Alloy decomposition in Cu-Ni-Fe. III. Influence of electron irradiation on decomposition kinetics and morphology

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Abstract
For pt.II see ibid., vol.16, p.1905 (1986). The influence of electron irradiation on the decomposition morphology of Cu-Ni-Fe alloys containing 46-48 at.% Ni and 2,4 and 8 at.% Fe has been investigated by means of small-angle neutron scattering. Null-matrix samples (enriched in 62Ni) were used to achieve the required sensitivity. Besides an accelerated kinetics, the measurements reveal a significant modification of the structure functions after irradiation in comparison with those after thermal treatment at comparable temperatures, and in some cases a reduction in the volume fraction and/or the scattering contrast of the two phases. The irradiation influence is attributed to an interstitialcy contribution to the interdiffusion, where the interstitialcy migration causes a reduction in the thermodynamic force driving towards decomposition.