Yield strength in submicrovolumes of single crystals

The specificity of the transition from elastic to elastoplastic deformation in defect-free single crystals during the localization of the deformation in a submicron region has been studied by nanoindentation. A sharp transition from elastic to elastoplastic deformation has been observed in tested single crystals at depths of about 20–50 nm. To define the yield strength using the nanoindentation data, the stressed-strained state in the contact region has been analyzed. It has been shown that the yield strength in submicrovolumes of single crystals is tens-hundreds times higher than that at the macroscopic level and approaches the value of the theoretical shear strength. A mechanism of the transition from elastic to elastoplastic deformation has been discussed in the framework of the phenomenological model of the nucleation of dislocations. The transition has been induced by the homogeneous nucleation of dislocations in a contact.