Plastic deformation of single nanometer-sized crystals.
We report in situ electron microscopy observations of the plastic deformation of individual nanometer-sized Au, Pt, W, and Mo crystals. Specifically designed graphitic cages that contract under electron irradiation are used as nanoscopic deformation cells. The correlation with atomistic simulations shows that the observed slow plastic deformation is due to dislocation activity. Our results also provide evidence that the vacancy concentration in a nanoscale system can be smaller than in the bulk material, an effect which has not been studied experimentally before.
Sun
Litao
L
Key Laboratory of MEMS of Ministry of Education, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China.
Krasheninnikov
Arkady V
AV
Ahlgren
Tommy
T
Nordlund
Kai
K
Banhart
Florian
F