Deformation and crack mechanisms of nanotwinned cadmium telluride under cyclic nanoindentations

The surface energies of monocrystalline (mc) and nanotwinned (nt) cadmium telluride (CdTe or CT) crystals, calculated using molecular dynamics simulations, are 435.08 and 381.8 mJ m−2, respectively. A crack of mc-CT is induced at the second loading cycle, whereas nt-CT with both twin boundaries (TBs) shows a crack at the lower TB under the third unloading condition. However, nt-CT with three TBs is free from cracks after 10 cyclic loading–unloading indentations, due to the combined effect between the hardening and softening nanotwins.