The dissociation of dislocations into partials which bounded an extrinsic stacking fault was studied by means of atomistic simulation. An embedded-atom type of potential was used. It was noted that a dislocation which dissociated directly by glide, into partials which bounded an extrinsic stacking fault, was unstable and collapsed; thus converting the array into one which bounded an intrinsic stacking fault. If the order of the partials for one of the bounding zonal partials was reversed, a portion of the extrinsic stacking fault was retained in a stable array. Such reversal could occur via climb. The results supported the concept that extrinsically faulted single dissociated dislocations were not observed because of a kinematic barrier to their formation.

Extrinsically Dissociated Dislocations in Simulated Aluminium J.P.Hirth, R.G.Hoagland: Philosophical Magazine A, 1998, 78[3], 529-32