It was recalled that the motion of a<011> dislocations was thought to play an important role in the deformation of single crystals of this material when they were oriented along a so-called hard <100> direction. Here, the structure of a<011> dislocations was determined at various length scales by using high-resolution and weak-beam transmission electron microscopy. The observations indicated that a<011> edge dislocations decomposed into 2 separate a<010> dislocations along the edge orientation, and that the overall shape of a<011> dislocation loops was non-planar. The embedded-atom method was used to study the energy and stability of a<011> edge dislocations, and the effects of the stress state and temperature upon the dislocation core structure and mobility. A possible mechanism for the motion of a<011> dislocations was related to the fracture and deformation of this material in the hard orientation.

M.J.Mills, J.E.Angelo, M.S.Daw, J.D.Weinburg, D.B.Miracle: Materials Science and Engineering A, 1995, 192-193, 134-41