HVEM study of crack tip dislocations in silicon crystals

摘要

The present paper describes the nature of crack tip plasticity in silicon crystals examined by high voltage electron microscopy (HVEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Firstly, AFM images around a crack tip are presented, where the formation of fine slip bands with the step heights of one or two nanometers is demonstrated. Secondly, crack-tip dislocations observed by HVEM are exhibited, where it is emphasized that dislocation characterization is essential to consider the relief mechanism of crack-tip stress concentration.