Theory of a quodon gas. With application to precipitation kinetics in solids under irradiation

TL;DR

This paper develops a modified rate theory incorporating a gas of lattice solitons (quodons) to better explain radiation-induced precipitation in solids, successfully matching experimental data on copper precipitation under irradiation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel non-equilibrium fluctuation model with quodons into rate theory, improving predictions of precipitation kinetics under irradiation.

Findings

Quodon gas density can match phonon gas density under intense irradiation.

Modified rate theory aligns well with experimental precipitation data.

Quodons significantly enhance chemical reaction rates during irradiation.

Abstract

Rate theory of the radiation-induced precipitation in solids is modified with account of non-equilibrium fluctuations driven by the gas of lattice solitons (a.k.a. quodons) produced by irradiation. According to quantitative estimations, a steady-state density of the quodon gas under sufficiently intense irradiation can be as high as the density of phonon gas. The quodon gas may be a powerful driver of the chemical reaction rates under irradiation, the strength of which exponentially increases with irradiation flux and may be comparable with strength of the phonon gas that exponentially increases with temperature. The modified rate theory is applied to modelling of copper precipitation in FeCu binary alloys under electron irradiation. In contrast to the classical rate theory, which disagrees strongly with experimental data on all precipitation parameters, the modified rate theory describes quite well both the evolution of precipitates and the matrix concentration of copper measured by different methods