Dislocation core structures in YAg, a ductile B2 CsCl-type intermetallic compound

Dislocations are thought to be the primary mechanism for plastic deformation in the ductile B2 YAg compound, but no reports have been made on whether partial dislocations are operating. Here, direct observations made by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy show that in YAg superlattice dislocations dissociate into two superpartials bound to either a stacking fault or an antiphase boundary. A better understanding of dislocation core structures in YAg should improve the understanding of deformation mechanisms in the family of ductile rare-earth B2 intermetallics.