Small size strength dependence on dislocation nucleation

We use the ex situ and in situ deformation of silicon nano-spheres to investigate the mechanism(s) responsible for hardening, which consequently affects strength. With spheres in the 40–400 nm range, an inverse strength dependence was found. Applicability of linear, forest and/or exhaustion hardening are explored with the hypothesis that all three are of the same class limited by dislocation nucleation.