Amorphization kinetics of Zr₃Fe under electron irradiation

Previous investigations using ⁴⁰Ar-ion bombardments have revealed that Zr₃Fe, which has an orthorhombic crystal structure, undergoes an irradiation-induced transformation from the crystalline to the amorphous state. In the present investigation, 0.9 MeV electron irradiations were performed at 28-220 K in a high-voltage electron microscope (HVEM). By measuring the onset, spread and final size of the amorphous region, factoring in the Gaussian distribution of the beam, a kinetic description of the amorphization in terms of dose, dose rate and temperature was obtained. The critical temperature for amorphization by electron irradiation was found to be ~ 220 K, compared with 570-625 K for ⁴⁰Ar-ion irradiation. Also, the dose-to-amorphization increased exponentially with temperature. Results indicated that the rate of growth of the amorphous region under the electron beam decreased with increasing temperature and the dose-to-amorphization decreased with increasing dose rate. The size of the amorphous region saturated after a given dose, the final size decreasing with increasing temperature, and it is argued that this is related to the existence of a critical dose rate, which increases with temperature, and below which no amorphization occurs.