It was recalled that, at low temperatures, the critical resolved shear stress in alkali halides and metals became independent of temperature. This was interpreted in terms of the quantum-mechanical tunnelling of mobile dislocations through a Peierls barrier, in the case of alkali halides. An alternative explanation was offered here which involved the inertial properties of dislocations. This model could be used to explain the mechanical behavior of superconductors and normal-state metals at low temperatures.

On the Problem of the Critical Resolved Shear Stress Saturation at Low Temperatures. J.M.Galligan, L.N.Gumen, A.A.Krokhin: Scripta Metallurgica et Materialia, 1995, 32[4], 647-9