A study of defects in electron- and ion-irradiated ZrCuAl bulk glassy alloy using positron annihilation techniques

Free volume changes in Zr50Cu40Al10 bulk glassy alloys irradiated by 200 and 2.5 MeV Xe ions, 180 keV He ions, and 2 MeV electrons were investigated at room temperature using positron annihilation lifetime and Doppler broadening techniques. In addition, a slow positron beam was used to probe the change in free volume in the 180 keV He ion-irradiated sample. X-ray diffraction revealed that no crystallization took place in any of the irradiated samples. The Doppler broadening spectra from the annihilated gamma rays remained essentially constant in all ion-irradiation cases; however, an extremely minor change of positron mean lifetime was detected in each case. For electron- and He ion-irradiated samples the positron lifetime increased, and the opposite was seen in heavy-ion irradiated samples. The Doppler broadening S parameter increased with He-ion radiation dose, and the depth profile correlated well to the damage profile.