DIRECT OBSERVATION OF RAPID SELF-DIFFUSION ALONG DISLOCATIONS IN ALUMINUM

Abstract

Voids were produced by the precipitation of excess quenched‐in vacancies in aluminum. The annealing of these voids in thin foil specimens by a self‐diffusion mechanism was studied using transmission electron microscopy. The annealing rates of both isolated voids and voids which were connected to the foil surfaces by dislocations were observed. The voids which were hooked up to the surfaces by dislocations annealed out at appreciably higher rates than the isolated voids. The results indicate that the dislocations acted as rapid self‐diffusion pipes for the transport of atoms into the voids from the surfaces.