In the framework of the thermal-spike model the present paper deals with the effect of the electronic stopping power (Se) in metals irradiated by swift heavy ions. Using the strength of the electron-phonon coupling g(z) with the number of valence electrons z as the unique free parameter, the increment of lattice temperature induced by swift-heavy-ion irradiation is calculated. Choosing z=2, the calculated threshold of defect creation by Se for Ti, Zr, Co and Fe is about 11, 27.5, 28 and 41 keV nm-1, in good agreement with experiment. Taking the same z value, the calculation shows that Al, Cu, Nb and Ag are Se insensitive. Moreover, in Fe, the differences in the damage created by U ions of different energies but exhibiting the same value of Se may be interpreted by a velocity effect. Using z=2, other calculations suggest that Be (Se>or=11 keV nm-1), Ga (Se>or=5 keV nm-1) and Ni (Se>or=49 keV nm-1) should be sensitive to Se but Mg should not. These examples put the stress on the effect of the physical parameters governing the electron-phonon coupling constant apart from z determination: the sound velocity linked to the Debye temperature and the lattice thermal conductivity. Furthermore, a simple criterion is proposed in order to predict the Se sensitivity of metals.

In the present paper, a method is proposed to quantitatively estimate the nuclear defect annealing by the electronic stopping power S. The spatial distribulion of defects created in metals by nudear collisions is known from numerical calculation based on the binary collisions with screened Coulomb potential. In the framework of the thermal spike model, S~ induced annealing of nuclear defects is simulated without considering athermal recombination. These calculations are applied to iron and nickel. The agreement between experiment and simulation in iron allows to determine the electron-phonon coupling value for iron. The defect creation by S e arises when the energy deposited on the atoms overcomes the energy necessary to melt the material.