With continuous minimization of nanodevices, the dimensions of metallic materials used in nanodevices decrease to a few nanometers. Understanding the structural stability and deformation behavior of these small-sized metallic materials is important for their practical applications. Here we report our atomic-resolution observation of the deformation processes of Ag nanowires with widths of ∼3 nm. The nanowires under tension experienced plastic deformation via partial dislocation activities, which led to deformation twinning in and homogeneous elongation of the nanowires, and surface atom diffusion that reduced the nanowires’ width but did not contribute to the nanowire elongation. The diffusion of surface atoms was initiated at surface steps introduced by the partial dislocation activities, leading to fracture of the nanowires with relatively low homogeneous elongation.

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亚5纳米尺寸Ag纳米线中应力诱导的滑移和扩散组合的原子机理

随着纳米器件的连续最小化，纳米器件中使用的金属材料的尺寸减小到几纳米。了解这些小型金属材料的结构稳定性和变形行为对它们的实际应用很重要。在这里，我们报告了我们的原子分辨率观察到的宽度约3 nm的Ag纳米线的变形过程。处于张力下的纳米线通过部分位错活动经历了塑性变形，这导致变形孪生和纳米线的均匀伸长，以及表面原子扩散减小了纳米线的宽度，但无助于纳米线的伸长。表面原子的扩散是在由部分位错活动引入的表面台阶处引发的，