In situ high resolution transmission electron microscopy investigation of deformation mechanism in sub-10-nm Au crystals

In situ high resolution transmission electron microscopy investigations were performed on sub-10-nm Au crystals. The effects of tensile loading direction and crystal size on the deformation mechanism of Au crystals were analysed. For the Au crystals with a width below 2 nm, the surface atom diffusion with a phenomenon of layer by layer peeling is the main deformation mechanism and the tensile loading direction plays negligible effect. For the Au crystals with a width over 7 nm, the dislocations generated form surface and gliding into crystal dominate the plastic deformation and the tensile loading direction plays important role. Lomer dislocations are produced and destructed by dislocation reaction during tensile strain process in < 001 > oriented Au crystal. The Schmid law is the key intrinsic issue controlling the deformation mechanism for the nanowires with a size larger than 7 nm.