IRRADIATION-INDUCED CRYSTALLINE-TO-AMORPHOUS TRANSITION IN INTERMETALLIC COMPOUNDS - MECHANISMS AND MODELING

An analysis of experimental observations on irradiation-induced amorph ization has been used to establish a phenomenological basis for develo ping a theory on the atomistic mechanisms responsible for this transit ion. Once the mechanisms are formulated, modeling can be done using va rious complementary mathematical approaches, viz., rate theory, to des cribe the kinetics, and atomistic simulations of defective systems thr ough static relaxations and molecular dynamics. Results of rate theory and static relaxations are summarized here.