New techniques of electron irradiation were proposed for the study, of the kinetics of simple point defects and their agglomeration, by making maximum use of the intrinsic function of an ultrahigh-voltage scanning transmission electron microscope. These methods permitted the obtention of a very high defect production rate within a localized area, and the creation of a spot or band-shaped source of point defects. These methods were applied in an attempt to detect the point defects which flowed out of a very localized area; by examining the growth and shrinkage of pre-introduced interstitial clusters. At low temperatures, where the vacancies were immobile, the out-flow of interstitials was observed. At high temperatures, where vacancies were mobile, out-flow of the vacancies appeared to play a predominant role in apparent secondary defect reactions.

Localized Electron Irradiation Methods and their Application to Detection of Flow-Field of Point Defects. S.Arai, Y.Satoh, K.Arakawa, C.Morita, M.Kiritani: Journal of Electron Microscopy, 2004, 53[1], 21-7