Microcompression of single-crystal magnesium

Single-crystal magnesium micropillars are fabricated using focused ion beam (FIB) milling. The micropillars are loaded in compression along the [0 0 0 1] c-axis. The stress–strain curves from these microcompression experiments reveal significant strain hardening, and post-mortem microscopy reveals traces of pyramidal slip on the deformed specimens. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) specimens are excised from the micropillars using FIB, and TEM analysis confirms the presence of pyramidal dislocations as well as 〈c〉 dislocations. No twinning is observed.