An opposite view on equilibrium vacancies in metals

Despite a significant progress in studies of point defects, no unambiguous conclusion has been found about equilibrium vacancy concentrations in metals. The objectives of the paper are as follows: (1) to recall recent experimental and theoretical results concerning equilibrium vacancy concentrations; (2) to consider the relaxation phenomena caused by the vacancy equilibration, (3) to show how the vacancy contributions to the electrical resistivity of the refractory metals can be seen from measurements under equilibrium; (4) to determine the temperature-dependent parameters of the vacancy formation and to compare them with the curvatures in the Arrhenius plots for self-diffusion; (5) to show that the difference between the high-temperature enthalpies of W and Mo measured under equilibrium and in rapid-heating experiments may demonstrate the vacancy formation; (6) to propose a straightforward determination of the vacancy contributions to the enthalpy of metals; (7) to give a brief summary presenting an opposite view on equilibrium vacancies in metals.