The destruction of stacking-fault tetrahedra, by gliding dislocations, was examined by in situ transmission electron microscopic straining experiments for stacking fault tetrahedra with edge lengths ranging from 10 to 50nm. At least 4 distinct stacking fault tetrahedra destruction processes were identified: a Kimura-Maddin model for both screw and 60° dislocations, stress-induced stacking fault tetrahedron-collapse into a triangular Frank loop, partial annihilation to leave an apex portion and, lastly, complete annihilation. The last process was observed at room temperature, for small stacking fault tetrahedra (about 10nm) alone. However, this process was also frequently observed for larger stacking fault tetrahedra (about 30nm) at about 853K. When this process was involved, the dislocation always cross-slipped; indicating that only screw dislocations could induce this process.

Mechanisms of Stacking Fault Tetrahedra Destruction by Gliding Dislocations in Quenched Gold. Y.Matsukawa, Y.N.Osetsky, R.E.Stoller, S.J.Zinkle: Philosophical Magazine, 2008, 88[4], 581-97