Irradiation damage in aluminium single crystals produced by 50-keV aluminium and copper ions

Aluminium single crystals, thin enough to be examined by electron microscopy, have been irradiated with 50-keV aluminium and copper ions. The irradiation fluxes were in the range 1011–1014 cm−2 s−1 and the doses were from 6 × 1012 to 6 × 1014 cm−2. Irradiation along either a or a direction produces rows of dislocation loops all lying parallel to one particular direction. If the aluminium target is quenched from 600 °C and annealed at room temperature prior to irradiation with aluminium ions, the rows of loops are suppressed. The amount of damage observed is considerably less than would be expected from isotropic damage theory.