Vacancies and Carbon Impurities in Iron

Point defects in electron-irradiated high-purity α-iron have been studied by positron lifetime measurements. We show that the migration stage of monovacancies occurs already as low as at 220 K, which results in agglomeration of small three-dimensional vacancy clusters. Furthermore, we irradiated carbon-doped iron specimens, where formation of highly asymmetric monovacancycarbon atom pairs was detected during the migration stage of monovacancies at 220 K.