Mechanism of kink band formation in zinc single crystals

Abstract

Abstract This paper is focused on the mechanism of kink band formation. In the general case, lattice rotation in a kink band may be realized by two sequentially activated simple elastic shears in nearly perpendicular planes. In the case of zinc crystals, compressed along (0001) plane at the temperature 523 K, the first shear may result from stress-induced temporary lattice instability (movement of atoms towards metastable positions in tetrahedric holes), while the second shear occurring along a temporary ‘new-positioned’ basal plane immediately ‘rebuilds’ the stable lattice.