Effect of the alpha-gamma phase transition on the stability of dislocation loops in bcc iron.

Body-centered-cubic iron develops an elastic instability, driven by spin fluctuations, near the alpha-gamma phase transition temperature T(c) = 912 degrees C that is associated with the dramatic reduction of the shear stiffness constant c' (c(11)-c(12))/2 near T(c). This reduction of c' has a profound effect on the temperature dependence of the anisotropic elastic self-energies of dislocations in iron. It also affects the relative stability of the a[100] and a/2[111] prismatic edge dislocation loops formed during irradiation. The difference between the anisotropic elastic free energies provides the fundamental explanation for the observed dominant occurrence of the a[100], as opposed to the a/2[111], Burgers vector configurations of prismatic dislocation loops in iron and iron-based alloys at high temperatures.