Crystallographic orientation and size dependence of tension–compression asymmetry in molybdenum nano-pillars

Uniaxial tension and compression experiments on [0 0 1] and [0 1 1] oriented molybdenum nano-pillars exhibit tension–compression asymmetry, a difference in attained stresses in compression vs. tension, which is found to depend on crystallographic orientation and sample size. We find that (1) flow stresses become higher at smaller diameters in both orientations and both loading directions, (2) compressive flow stresses are higher than tensile ones in [0 0 1] orientation, and visa versa in [0 1 1] orientation, and (3) this tension–compression asymmetry is in itself size dependent. We attribute these phenomena to the dependence of twinning vs. antitwinning deformation on loading direction, to the non-planarity of screw dislocation cores in Mo crystals, and to the possibly lesser role of screw dislocations in governing nano-scale plasticity compared with bulk Mo.

► We conduct uniaxial tension and compression experiments on [001] and [011] oriented molybdenum nano-pillars.
► We report their orientation, size, and deformation path dependence.
► We find that compressive stresses are higher than tensile ones in [001] orientation, and visa versa in [011] orientation.
► We attribute these phenomena to the dependence of twinning vs. antitwinning deformation on loading direction.
► We also attribute these phenomena to size-dependent role of the non-planar screw dislocation cores.