The generation and motion of unit jogs along the periphery of loops was observed during the growth of angular interstitial-type faulted dislocation loops under electron irradiation in a high-voltage electron microscope. This was suggested to be a case of the detection of fluctuations, of a solid-state reaction, rather than its statistical average. The average frequency of the generation of unit jogs was found to be proportional to the product of the concentration and the jump-rate of point defects, as estimated by using reaction kinetics theory. As a result of the depletion of point defects, following the formation of a unit jog, the generation of unit jogs was not perfectly random but instead deviated towards regular periodic generation.

Fluctuation of Point Defect Reactions Observed during the Growth of Dislocation Loops under Electron Irradiation. K.Arakawa, Y.Satoh, S.Arai, M.Kiritani: Philosophical Magazine A, 2000, 80[9], 2041-55