Transmission electron microscopy of weakly deformed alkali halide crystals

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Abstract
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is applied to the investigation of the dislocation arrangement of [001]-orientated alkali halide crystals (orientation four quadruple slip) deformed into stage I of the work-hardenig curve. The investigations pertain mainly to NaCl-(0.1-1) mole-% NaBr crystals, because these exhibit a relatively long stage I. The time available for observing the specimens is limited by the ionization radiation damage occuring in the microscope. An optimum reduction of the damage rate is achieved by a combination of several experimental techniques that are briefly outlined. The crystals deform essentially in single glide. According to the observations, stage I deformation of pure and weakly alloyed NaCl crystals is characterized by the glide of screw dislocations, which bow out between jogs and drag dislocation dipoles behind them. In crystals with ≳ 0.5 mole-% NaBr this process is not observed to occur. This is attributed to the increased importance of solid solution hardening