An analysis of dislocation wall stability with respect to fluctuational disintegration exploited the methodological approach which was used in studies of soft modes and structural instabilities in crystal lattices and extended defect structures. This approach took advantage of the fact that the issue of stability was directly related to the properties of the spectrum of the fluctuating structure. Using this methodology, the effective force constants of springs which established dynamic correlations within the ensemble of fluctuating screw dislocations were first determined. A knowledge of these force constants permitted the calculation of the spectrum of wall fluctuations. By requiring the eigenfrequencies of the fluctuations to be real quantities, the necessary criterion which permitted the Peierls energy to stabilize the wall was then obtained.

Role of Peierls Energy in the Stabilization of a Screw Dislocation Wall. L.B.Hovakimian, S.Tanaka: Scripta Materialia, 1998, 38[11], 1615-20