Ion irradiation induced disappearance of dislocations in a nickel-based alloy

Under Xe ion irradiation, the microstructural evolution of a nickel based alloy, Hastelloy N (US N10003), was studied. The intrinsic dislocations are decorated with irradiation induced interstitial loops and/or clusters. Moreover, the intrinsic dislocations density reduces as the irradiation damage increases. The disappearance of the intrinsic dislocations is ascribed to the dislocations climb to the free surface by the absorption of interstitials under the ion irradiation. Moreover, the in situ annealing experiment reveals that the small interstitial loops and/or clusters induced by the ion irradiation are stable below 600 °C.