Dislocation emission around nanoindentations on a (001) fcc metal surface studied by scanning tunneling microscopy and atomistic simulations

• Published in: Physical review letters Vol. 88; no. 3; p. 036101
• Main Authors: Rodríguez de la Fuente, O, Zimmerman, J A, González, M A, de La Figuera, J, Hamilton, J C, Pai, Woei Wu, Rojo, J M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 21-01-2002
• ISSN: 0031-9007; 1079-7114
• DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.88.036101

We present a combined study by scanning tunneling microscopy and atomistic simulations of the emission of dissociated dislocation loops by nanoindentation on a (001) fcc surface. The latter consist of two stacking-fault ribbons bounded by Shockley partials and a stair-rod dislocation. These dissociated loops, which intersect the surface, are shown to originate from loops of interstitial character emitted along the directions and are usually located at hundreds of angstroms away from the indentation point. Simulations reproduce the nucleation and glide of these dislocation loops.