title: Universal symmetry property of point defects in crystals
abstract: Point defects (vacancies, solute atoms, and disorder) are ubiquitous in crystalline solids. With in situ transmission electron microscopy we find clear evidence for the existence of a universal symmetry property of point defects; i.e., the symmetry of short-range order of point defects follows the crystal symmetry when in equilibrium. We further show that this symmetry-conforming property can lead to various interesting effects including "aging-induced microstructure memory" and the associated "time-dependent two-way shape memory."
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Science, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8573, Japan.
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Otsuka