A systematic study of various, nominally undoped ZnO single crystals, either hydrothermally grown (HTG) or melt grown (MG), has been performed. The crystal quality has been assessed by x-ray diffraction, and a comprehensive estimation of the detailed impurity and hydrogen contents by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and nuclear reaction analysis, respectively, has been made also. High precision positron lifetime experiments show that a single positron lifetime is observed in all crystals investigated, which clusters at 180–182 ps and 165–167 ps for HTG and MG crystals, respectively. Furthermore, hydrogen is detected in all crystals in a bound state with a high concentration (at least $0.3\text{at}\text{.}\%$), whereas the concentrations of other impurities are very small. From ab initio calculations it is suggested that the existence of Zn-vacancy–hydrogen complexes is the most natural explanation for the given experimental facts at present. Furthermore, the distribution of H at a metal/ZnO interface of a MG crystal, and the H content of a HTG crystal upon annealing and time afterward has been monitored, as this is most probably related to the properties of electrical contacts made at ZnO and the instability in $p$-type conductivity observed at ZnO nanorods in literature. All experimental findings and presented theoretical considerations support the conclusion that various types of Zn-vacancy–hydrogen complexes exist in ZnO and need to be taken into account in future studies, especially for HTG materials.

Thermal stability of ultrafine grained (mean grain size 150 nm) copper prepared by high pressure torsion was studied by means of positron-lifetime spectroscopy correlated with transmission electron microscopy. The microstructure of the material studied is strongly inhomogeneous. The grain interiors with low dislocation density are separated by distorted regions with high number of dislocations. We have found that positrons are trapped at dislocations inside the distorted regions and in the microvoids situated inside the grains. Calculations of the lifetime of a positron trapped at a microvoid as a function of its size were performed to obtain information about sizes of the microvoids. Abnormal grain growth, when isolated recrystallized grains grow inside the deformed matrix, takes place from $160°\mathrm{C}.$ From 280 to $400°\mathrm{C}$ recrystallization occurs. Strongly inhomogeneous spatial distribution of defects does not allow application of the simple trapping model. Therefore a model of positron behavior in the ultrafine grained materials was developed in the present work. The model takes into account inhomogeneous spatial distribution of defects and allows for determination of dislocation density, concentration of microvoids, linear size of coherent domains, and volume fraction of the distorted regions. Moreover using this model it was possible to determine the activation energy of the recrystallization.