Unstable dissociation of a prismatic dislocation in magnesium

Dissociation of a prismatic dislocation was captured in atomistic simulations using a modified embedded atom method potential for magnesium alloys. The dissociation can be described as: 13〈12¯10〉→13×13〈12¯10〉+SF{101¯0}+23×13〈12¯10〉. The results show that the dissociation has no component along the c-axis, i.e. the [0 0 0 1] direction. Calculations of the generalized stacking fault energy show that no metastable stacking fault exists on prismatic planes. An unstable stacking fault was created by the leading partial, and quickly erased by the nucleation of the trailing partial.