The evolution of kink pairs on dislocations in single crystals, under 2-level intermittent loading, was studied in order to reveal the modes of 1-dimensional transport in a random environment. Experimental evidence was obtained for an anomalous non-linear kink drift which had been theoretically predicted. It was concluded that this was a promising technique for the investigation of various modes of kink dynamics at the most fundamental level. The parameters which were deduced permitted a characterization of the dislocation’s point defect atmosphere.

J.L.Iunin, V.I.Nikitenko, V.I.Orlov, B.V.Petukhov: Physical Review Letters, 1997, 78[16], 3137-40