Nano-indentations, and consequent plastic damage in the form of dislocation configurations, were generated and imaged using scanning tunnelling microscopy of a reconstructed Au(001) surface. The resultant observations were interpreted in terms of the elastic theory of dislocations in a continuum. The rearranged pile-up material around the nano-indentation was described in terms of dislocation emission and glide which involved, in particular, multiple cross-slip. So-called mesas (shallow protrusions arising from a special dislocation configuration consisting of Schockley partial dislocations which encompassed 2 stacking faults) were shown to glide parallel to the surface under the influence of the stress generated by further nano-indentations. The spatial distribution of the mesas around the nano-indentation traces was shown to be controlled by a balance between the interactions between the various mesas and the stresses which arose from the nano-indentation itself.

Dislocation Emission at the Onset of Plasticity During Nanoindentation in Gold. E.Carrasco, O.Rodríguez De La Fuente, J.M.Rojo: Philosophical Magazine, 2008, 88[3], 281-96