Under-threshold mechanism for generation of Frenkel defects by laser radiation

Summary form only given. Generation of Frenkel defects by high energy particles is well known to be an impact mechanism. However, a lot of experiments where generation of the point defects in semiconductors take place at low energy of electrons, X-ray, or light are known. The mechanism of these phenomena is not clear yet. We propose the thermal gradient mechanism for generation and separation of Frenkel defects in compound semiconductors. According to this model, the vacancy and interstitial atoms drift to opposite directions in a semiconductor under the temperature gradient: interstitial atoms to the maximum temperature, but vacancies to the opposite side.