The kinematics of crystalline arrays at the subnanometric level

Abstract

This article presents additional developments in the analysis of displacement fields and strains around edge dislocations via electron microscopy. The goal of this work, which extends earlier work of the authors, is to provide additional information about the connection between the Continuum Mechanics model of the events taking place in a nanometric size region of a crystal and experimentally observed geometrical changes of the crystalline array. The implications of the understanding of the connection of Continuum Mechanics and actual distortions of the crystalline array are vast. The development of new semiconductor electronic devices based on nanotubes and other semiconductors in circuits that operate at high temperature, high-power or high radiation will benefit by this input. The new technique of manufacturing, 3D printing, can also benefit from the better understanding of the process of formation of crystalline arrays and the defects that this process generates.