Positron annihilation studies of vacancy-type defects

The annihilation radiation of low energy positrons gives information on the electronic and defect structure of solids. There are three conventionally measurable quantities: the positron lifetime, the angular correlation of 2 annihilation radiation and the Doppler-broadened annihilation line shape. In the presence of lattice defects the annihilation characteristics show considerable changes. This is due to positron trapping at defects like vacancies and their agglomerates, voids, dislocations and grain boundaries. The concentration of defects can be deduced from the ratio of trapped and free positrons.The annihilation characteristics are different for different defect configurations. Positrons reveal vacancy agglomeration and the lifetime of trapped positrons gives estimates on the size of microvoids in the range of 2–10 Å. Various examples on the study of equilibrium and non-equilibrium defects, radiation damage and defect annealing are presented. Special emphasis is given to vacancy recovery and vacancy-impurity interactions in electron and neutron irradiated bcc transition metals like Fe, Mo, Nb, Ta.