First principles determination of the Peierls stress of the shuffle screw dislocation in silicon

The Peierls stress of the a/2 screw dislocation belonging to the shuffle set is calculated for silicon using density functional theory. We have checked the effect of boundary conditions by using two models, the supercell method where one considers a periodic array of dislocations, and the cluster method where a single dislocation is embedded in a small cluster. The Peierls stress is underestimated with the supercell and overestimated with the cluster. These contributions have been calculated and the Peierls stress is determined in the range between 2.4 x 10-2 and 2.8 x 10-2 eV {\AA}-3. When moving, the dislocation follows the {111} plane going through a low energy metastable configuration and never follows the 100 plane, which includes a higher energy metastable core configuration

Inertial and retardation effects for dislocation interactions

A new formulation for the equation of motion of interacting dislocations is derived. From this solution it is shown that additional coupling forces, of kinetic and inertial origin, should be considered in Dislocation Dynamics (DD) simulations at high strain rates. A heuristic modification of this general equation of motion enables one to introduce retardation into inertial and elastic forces, in accordance with a progressive rearrangement of fields through wave propagation. The influence of the corresponding coupling terms and retardation effects are then illustrated in the case of dislocation dipolar interaction and coplanar annihilation. Finally, comparison is made between the modified equation of motion and a precise numerical solution based on the Peierls-Nabarro Galerkin method. Good agreement is found between the Peierls-Nabarro Galerkin method and the EoM including retardation effects for a dipolar interaction. For coplanar annihilation, it is demonstrated that an unexpected mechanism, involving a complex interplay between the core of the dislocations and kinetics energies, allows a renucleation from the completely annihilated dislocations. A description of this phenomenon that could break the most favourable reaction between dislocations is proposed

Evaluation of the stability of human erythropoietin in samples for radioimmunoassay

Radioimmunoassays for erythropoietin are limited so far to a few specialized laboratories and this requires transport and storage of samples. We therefore tested the stability of immunoreactive erythropoietin in serum and plasma samples obtained from a uremic and a nonuremic anemic patient. No significant change in the concentration of immunoreactive erythropoietin was found in either serum or plasma samples for up to 14 days of storage. This type of stability was observed no matter whether the samples were stored at room temperature, 4 degrees C, or -20 degrees C. There was no difference between the estimates of erythropoietin in serum and heparinized plasma. Validity of the radioimmunoassay used in this study was demonstrated by parallelism of dilution curves of test specimens and the 2nd International Reference Preparation for erythropoietin and by a close correlation between the immunoreactivity and the bioactivity of the hormone, as assessed in the same samples by the exhypoxic polycythemic mouse bioassay. In conclusion the data obtained clearly indicate that the necessity of storage and transport of clinical samples does not limit the practicability of the radioimmunoassay for erythropoietin

Dislocation core field. I. Modeling in anisotropic linear elasticity theory

Aside from the Volterra field, dislocations create a core field, which can be modeled in linear anisotropic elasticity theory with force and dislocation dipoles. We derive an expression of the elastic energy of a dislocation taking full account of its core field and show that no cross term exists between the Volterra and the core fields. We also obtain the contribution of the core field to the dislocation interaction energy with an external stress, thus showing that dislocation can interact with a pressure. The additional force that derives from this core field contribution is proportional to the gradient of the applied stress. Such a supplementary force on dislocations may be important in high stress gradient regions, such as close to a crack tip or in a dislocation pile-up

Mesoscopic Analysis of Structure and Strength of Dislocation Junctions in FCC Metals

We develop a finite element based dislocation dynamics model to simulate the structure and strength of dislocation junctions in FCC crystals. The model is based on anisotropic elasticity theory supplemented by the explicit inclusion of the separation of perfect dislocations into partial dislocations bounding a stacking fault. We demonstrate that the model reproduces in precise detail the structure of the Lomer-Cottrell lock already obtained from atomistic simulations. In light of this success, we also examine the strength of junctions culminating in a stress-strength diagram which is the locus of points in stress space corresponding to dissolution of the junction.Comment: 9 Pages + 4 Figure

1/f1/f noise and avalanche scaling in plastic deformation

We study the intermittency and noise of dislocation systems undergoing shear deformation. Simulations of a simple two-dimensional discrete dislocation dynamics model indicate that the deformation rate exhibits a power spectrum scaling of the type $1/f^{\alpha}$. The noise exponent is far away from a Lorentzian, with $\alpha \approx 1.5$. This result is directly related to the way the durations of avalanches of plastic deformation activity scale with their size.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Voltage from mechanical stress in type-II superconductors: Depinning of the magnetic flux by moving dislocations

Mechanical stress causes motion of defects in solids. We show that in a type-II superconductor a moving dislocation generates a pattern of current that exerts the depinning force on the surrounding vortex lattice. Concentration of dislocations and the mechanical stress needed to produce critical depinning currents are shown to be within practical range. When external magnetic field and transport current are present this effect generates voltage across the superconductor. Thus a superconductor can serve as an electrical sensor of the mechanical stress.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure

Stress induced dislocation roughening -- phase transition in 1d at finite temperature

We present an example of a generically forbidden phase transition in 1d at finite temperature -- stress induced and thermally assisted roughening of a superclimbing dislocation in a Peierls potential. We also argue that such roughening is behind the strong suppression of the superflow through solid \he4 in a narrow temperature range recently observed by Ray and Hallock (Phys.Rev. Lett. {\bf 105}, 145301 (2010)).Comment: 4 revtex pages, 5 figures. Replaced with the published versio