The effect of γ-irradiation upon the mechanical characteristics and dislocation structures of slip bands in crystals was studied at doses, D, of less than 7.3 x 108R. The irradiation caused an appreciable increase (by up to a factor of 30) in the yield stress, Sy, of the crystals; where Sy was proportional to D0.4, to a first approximation. Deformation shear increased in the slip bands of irradiated crystals, as did the densities of screw and edge dislocation components. The dislocation mean free paths decreased. Irradiation also increased the probability of twinning cross-slip for screw dislocations. These effects were assumed to be related to the formation of a different type of defect in the irradiated crystals; mainly clusters of implanted atoms.

Evolution of Dislocation Structure during Deformation of γ-Irradiated LiF Crystals. B.I.Smirnov, T.S.Orlova, T.V.Samoĭlova: Physics of the Solid State, 1997, 39[6], 962-4