A study was made of the mechanisms of dislocation nucleation from surface defects in silicon submitted to various stresses and temperatures. Molecular dynamics simulations using 3 classical potentials revealed the existence of two different plastic modes in silicon which could be activated from surfaces. At high temperatures and low stresses, dislocation nucleation occurred in the {111} glide planes while, at low temperatures and large stresses, it occurred in the {111} shuffle planes. The analysis of dislocation cores and kinks showed structures like those well known in bulk silicon. This supported the idea that plasticity in crystalline Si structures could be governed by dislocation nucleation from surfaces.

Dislocation Nucleation from Surface Step in Silicon - the Glide Set versus the Shuffle Set. J.Godet, P.Hirel, S.Brochard, L.Pizzagalli: Physica Status Solidi A, 2009, 206[8], 1885-91