The Effect of Cyclotron Bombardment on Self-Diffusion in Silver

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Abstract
Radioactive tracer techniques have been employed to measure the rate of self‐diffusion in silver in polycrystalline and single crystal solvents over a wide range of temperatures, and to investigate the effect of bombardment with 10‐Mev protons on this diffusion process. A least squares fit of the data from laboratory control experiments with both single crystal and polycrystalline solvents in the temperature range 903°C to 640°C has yielded the diffusion constants Q=40,800±700 cal/mole and D0=0.11±0.05 cm2/sec for the volume diffusion process. No effect of intense proton bombardment ranging from 0.5 to 5μa/cm2 has been detected on the volume self‐diffusion process in silver specimens which were simultaneously irradiated in the cyclotron target box and annealed at temperatures ranging from 852°C to 555°C. These results are, at least semiquantitatively, in accord with both the elastic collision model and the thermal spike model of radiation damage. Cyclotron techniques and apparatus are described in some detail.