Abstract
Vanadium, niobium and molybdenum samples containing about 300 ppm of zirconium were irradiated at helium-temperature with electrons of energies between 0.6 and 3.1 MeV. The measured damage rates were analyzed in terms of minimum threshold energy, damage function and resistivity per unit concentration of Frenkel pairs. For the minimum threshold energy Td , values of 25 ± 2 eV (V), 28 ± 2 eV (Nb) and 34 ± 2 eV (Mo) were obtained. Pronounced differences between the displacement functions of molybdenum and that of niobium and vanadium are found which are explained by different stability of the defects during the irradiation at helium temperature.