Xe precipitates at grain boundaries in Al under 1 MeV electron irradiation

Crystalline nanoprecipitates of Xe have been produced by ion implantation into mazed bicrystalline Al at 300 K, in which the matrix grain boundaries are mainly 90 deg tilt boundaries. Within Al grains, Xe nanocrystals are fee, isotactic with the Al and cuboctohedral in shape with {111} and {100} facets. With an off-axial imaging technique, the nanocrystals were structure imaged against a relatively featureless matrix background. In contrast to metal precipitates in Al, such as Pb, Xe precipitates straddling a matrix grain boundary are bicrystals as small as approximately 2 nm in diameter. Larger Xe precipitates tend to avoid boundaries which are inclined away from asymmetrical orientation and which thus have a significant twist component . Under the 1 MeV electron irradiation employed for HREM observation, small Xe nanocrystals near a grain boundary may migrate to the boundary and coalesce with other Xe precipitates. The structural observations are rationalized on a simple geometrical interpretation. ..........................................................................................................................................