Hardening mechanism of twin boundaries during nanoindentation of soft-brittle CdTe crystals

Deformations of cadmium telluride (CdTe) under nanoindentation were simulated by molecular dynamics. CdTe slides along the {1 1 1} planes under nanoindentation through edge dislocations. During loading, the sliding of CdTe was limited at twin boundaries, inducing the pile-up phenomenon. When dislocations transferred across the twin boundary, a sessile dislocation and steps formed. The coherence effect of both twin boundaries locked the dislocations at the twin boundary effectively, indicating a better hardening effect.