Dislocation mechanism of interface point defect migration

Abstract

Vacancies and interstitials absorbed at Cu-Nb interfaces are shown to migrate by a multistage process involving the thermally-activated formation, motion, and annihilation of kinks and jogs on interface misfit dislocations. This mechanism, including the energy along the entire migration path, can be described quantitatively within dislocation theory, suggesting that analysis of misfit dislocation networks may enable prediction of point defect behaviors at semicoherent heterointerfaces.