Atomistic simulations of intersection cross-slip nucleation in L12 Ni3Al

Using atomistic simulations, the authors evaluate the activation barrier for a screw superdislocation to form the Paidar-Pope-Vitek (PPV) locked configuration when intersecting a forest dislocation in L12 Ni3Al, as a function of the superpartial core width. It is shown that the PPV lock is stable at the intersection, unlike when formed along an isolated dislocation line, and that the activation energy for cross slip at the forest dislocation intersection is significantly lower than that for cross slip along an isolated dislocation.