Suppression of thermal gain growth in nickel by prior electron irradiation

摘要

An anomalous effect of electron irradiation on thermal grain growth in Ni has been observed using in situ TEM. Grain growth during thermal annealing was suppressed in areas irradiated with electrons. Grain growth suppression required a minimum electron energy between 100 and 200 keV. This alteration of thermal grain growth is attributed to electron beam injection of a surface contaminant such as carbon. This work points out that care must be exercised in the execution and evaluation of in situ TEM or ion beam experiments that deal with microstructural changes which are highly compositionally sensitive.