Change in dislocation distribution of KCl single crystals during thermal cyclic annealing

The change in dislocation distribution of KCl single crystals during thermal cyclic annealing was studied by etch pit method. The results obtained are summarized as follows. (1) In contrast to the case in Cu (KITAJIMA et al.; HASEGAWA et al.), the dislocation distribution in KCl crystals became non-uniform with an increase in the cyclic annealing time, i.e., in the region near the surface, many sub-boundaries were formed, but in the interior, the density of dislocations and sub-boundaries decreased. The cyclic annealing is more effective in reducing the dislocation density than the isothermal annealing. (2) The longer the period of thermal cycle, the more effective in reducing the dislocation density. (3) The larger the temperature difference between the maximum and minimum during one cycle, the more effective in reducing the dislocation density. (4) In the Sr-doped crystals, the thermal cyclic annealing was also effective in reducing the dislocation density within subgrains but sub-boundary length per unit area slightly increased by the cyclic annealing. (5) When the samples were annealed under the atmosphere of Cl₂, the dislocation density remarkably increased against our expectation, although the scattering centres had disappeared by this treatment.