The thermally activated and stress-assisted generation of kink pairs on {110} slip planes of a0<111>/2 screw dislocations in body-centered cubic metals was identified as the origin of the β-relaxation (Chambers-Schultz nomenclature). This identification accounted very well for the available data on high-purity transition metals (notably Mo and α-Fe). It explains why foreign interstitial atoms or defects generated by irradiation were necessary for the β-relaxation to occur but did not significantly affect the relaxation process itself.

The Mechanism of the β-Relaxation in High-Purity BCC Metals. A.Seeger: Philosophical Magazine Letters, 2003, 83[2], 107-15