title: Kink formation and motion in carbon nanotubes at high temperatures.
abstract: We report that kink motion is a universal plastic deformation mode in all carbon nanotubes when being tensile loaded at high temperatures. The kink motion, observed inside a high-resolution transmission electron microscope, is reminiscent of dislocation motion in crystalline materials: namely, it dissociates and multiplies. The kinks are nucleated from vacancy creation and aggregation, and propagate in either a longitudinal or a spiral path along the nanotube walls. The kink motion is related to dislocation glide and climb influenced by external stress and high temperatures in carbon nanotubes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, USA.
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Z F
authors.initials: ZF
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Z Q
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: D Z
authors.initials: DZ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vaziri
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Suo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Dresselhaus