Results were presented on the atomic-scale computer modelling of interactions between a cluster of self-interstitial atoms and a single vacancy in models of body-centered cubic, face-centered cubic and hexagonal close-packed metals. The vacancy was assumed to lie on, or within, the glide prism of the cluster. This type of reaction was considered to be one of the most frequent because the formation of self-interstitial atom clusters, especially glissile clusters, was often observed in high-energy displacement cascades in metals. The interaction depended strongly upon the dislocation nature of the cluster, and these interactions were therefore different in the 3 crystal structures. Vacancy and self-interstitial atom recombination, in particular, was inhibited by dissociation of the self-interstitial atom loop on its glide prism.

Features of the Interactions between a Vacancy and Interstitial Loops in Metals. M.A.Puigvi, A.Serra, N.de Diego, Y.N.Osetsky, D.J.Bacon: Philosophical Magazine Letters, 2004, 84[4], 257-66