Vacancy cluster evolution in metals under irradiation

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Abstract
A stochastic treatment of vacancy cluster formation in irradiated metals is formulated in terms of a Fokker-Planck equation. The Fokker-Planck coefficients are found to depend on the cluster si2e distribution itself. This non-linear equation is solved by a previously developed numerical path-integral solution. The non-linear dependence provides an important feedback for the evolution of the bias. This evolution both initiates and terminates the nucleation process. The void size distribution follows a bifurcation process in which a peaked distribution of stable voids separates from a distribution of small unstable voids. The stable void number density reaches a final value which depends on temperature and dose rate. These predicted values are in close agreement with measured void number densities.

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