title: Low Speed Crack Propagation via Kink Formation and Advance on the Silicon (110) Cleavage Plane.
abstract: We present density functional theory based atomistic calculations predicting that slow fracturing of silicon is possible at any chosen crack propagation speed under suitable temperature and load conditions. We also present experiments demonstrating fracture propagation on the Si(110) cleavage plane in the ~100 m/s speed range, consistent with our predictions. These results suggest that many other brittle crystals could be broken arbitrarily slowly in controlled experiments.
authors.affiliation: Warwick Centre for Predictive Modelling, School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Kermode
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gleizer
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kovel
authors.affiliation: Institute for Applied Materials IAM, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pastewka
authors.affiliation: Engineering Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Gábor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Csányi
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.|School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Dov
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sherman
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom.|CENMAT-UTS, Via A. Valerio 2, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Vita