Nanoindentation study for deformation twinning of magnesium single crystal

The small-scale deformation behavior of single-crystalline Mg was investigated using nanoindentation combined with transmission electron microscopy observation. The nanoindentation on both basal and second-order prismatic planes activated the tensile twin system at different positions. The concept of twin-favorable zones was chosen to explain the tensile twin formation by indentation on both basal and prismatic planes. Besides 〈c + a〉 dislocation, this study proves that the tensile twin formation plays a role in accommodating the strain induced by the nanoindentation of single-crystalline Mg.