Discrete plasticity in sub-10-nm-sized gold crystals
- Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science; Wuhan Univ. (China). MOE Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures. Center for Electron Microscopy. School of Physics and Technology; DOE/OSTI
- Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Materials Science and Engineering Center
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies
- Shenyang National Lab. for Materials Science (China). Inst. of Metal Research
- Wuhan Univ. (China). MOE Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures. Center for Electron Microscopy. School of Physics and Technology
- Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States). Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
- Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Although deformation processes in submicron-sized metallic crystals are well documented, the direct observation of deformation mechanisms in crystals with dimensions below the sub10-nm range is currently lacking. Here, through in situ high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) observations, we show that (1) in sharp contrast to what happens in bulk materials, in which plasticity is mediated by dislocation emission from Frank-Read sources and multiplication, partial dislocations emitted from free surfaces dominate the deformation of gold (Au) nanocrystals; (2) the crystallographic orientation (Schmid factor) is not the only factor in determining the deformation mechanism of nanometre-sized Au; and (3) the Au nanocrystal exhibits a phase transformation from a face-centered cubic to a body-centered tetragonal structure after failure. These findings provide direct experimental evidence for the vast amount of theoretical modelling on the deformation mechanisms of nanomaterials that have appeared in recent years.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 1623835
- Journal Information:
- Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 1; ISSN 2041-1723
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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