Transmission electron microscopic observations of quenched specimens, and of specimens at various stages during low-temperature annealing, clarified the mechanisms that were responsible for vacancy elimination. It was noted that there was often an incubation period during annealing, and before softening, during which inhomogeneous distributions of various <111> and <100> dislocations could be observed. The temperature dependence of the observed softening therefore depended upon both vacancy-mobility and vacancy sinks.

Vacancies, Vacancy Aggregates and Hardening in FeAl. M.A.Morris, O.George, D.G.Morris: Materials Science and Engineering A, 1998, 258[1-2], 99-107