Footprints of plastic deformation in nanocrystalline metals

It now is possible to synthesize polycrystalline metals made up of grains that average less than 100 nm in size. Such nanocrystalline metals contain a significant volume fraction of interfacial regions separated by nearly-perfect crystals, a microstructure characterized by a significant high strength. This paper reports on a dislocation based deformation mechanism gained from insights obtained by atomistic computer simulations, followed by a discussion of some experimental observations.