Atomistic simulations of dislocation nucleation from grain boundaries provided an insight into dislocation sources in nanocrystalline Cu. Simulations showed that dislocation sources emit single partial dislocation loops, with half being absorbed into the boundary and half being emitted into the lattice. The specific boundary dislocation content determined whether the absorbed half-loop annihilated pre-existing boundary dislocations or increased boundary dislocations. Atomistic studies of this type provided details of the emission sequence that enhanced the understanding of dislocation sources in high-angle boundaries.

Grain Boundary Dislocation Sources in Nanocrystalline Copper. M.A.Tschopp, D.L.McDowell: Scripta Materialia, 2008, 58[4], 299-302