Dislocation microstructures which were introduced by room-temperature microhardness indentation were investigated. Surface analysis of the residual indentation by atomic-force microscopy revealed intragranular slip bands and demonstrated that room-temperature plastic deformation involved dislocation motion as well as cross-slip events. Cross-slip events were found to occur between {10▪0} prismatic planes. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the dislocations had a Burgers vector of [00▪1], and were located along the screw direction.

Characterization of Room-Temperature Plastic Deformation of β-Si3N4 by Atomic Force Microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy. X.Milhet, J.C.Girard, J.L.Demenet, J.Rabier: Philosophical Magazine Letters, 2001, 81[9], 623-9