A study was made of the re-ordering kinetics of ion-irradiated samples. The development of long-range order during annealing was measured by means of quantitative electron diffractometry. According to the temperature dependence of the observed kinetics, the reaction was dominated by non-equilibrium vacancies. As a consequence, the kinetics could be calibrated in terms of the absolute numbers of atomic jumps which were necessary in order to establish the observed degree of order. Monte Carlo simulations were used to analyse the experimental data. It was shown that, as well as the temperature dependence of the driving force, the ordering efficiency of the vacancy jumps was itself temperature dependent; due to the differing mobilities of the atomic species.

Reordering Kinetics of Ion-Disordered Ni. Ewert, J.C., Schmitz, G.: European Physical Journal B, 2000, 17[3], 391-403