Numerical simulations were used to follow the evolution, of an initial density of dislocation loops in an infinite strained layer, up to the point where the dislocations stopped moving. Some unexpected results were obtained. Firstly, many of the threading arms were annihilated, or prematurely immobilized, by hardening interactions such as jog and junction formation. Secondly, the remaining dislocation arms were eventually trapped by stress fluctuations that arose from local over-relaxation, rather than from the usual blocking mechanisms. Thirdly, the degree of relaxation that could be obtained depended strongly upon the initial density of the threading arms.

Discrete Dislocation Dynamics Study of Strained-Layer Relaxation. K.W.Schwarz: Physical Review Letters, 2003, 91[14], 145503 (3pp)