The properties of displacement cascades, of up to 5keV, in the ordered intermetallic compound were investigated by means of molecular dynamics simulations. The minimum displacement threshold energy (15eV) was found for <100> recoil directions. The average threshold energy for displacement which was initiated by a Ti primary knock-on atom (78eV) was some 1.7 times larger than that for a Cu primary knock-on atom (47eV). Multiple defect production was found for cascade energies of more than 500eV. When near to this energy, about 25 replacements were created for each stable Frenkel pair. Planar cascades occurred in the (100), (010) and (110) planes under certain conditions. These produced significantly more Frenkel pairs than in the case of 3-dimensional cascades. Melting of the core of a 5keV cascade, during the first 5ps, caused efficient local atomic mixing. After recrystallization, the impact region exhibited a high degree of chemical disorder; as characterized by a chemical short-range order parameter of 0.49. The efficiency of Frenkel-pair production by a 5keV recoil was estimated to be 0.14.

H.Zhu, N.Q.Lam: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, 1995, 95[1], 25-33