Materials science: Perfecting the defect
Thursday, May 3, 2012 - 09:31
in Physics & Chemistry
Strong metals have a tendency to be less ductile unless the metal happens to be a peculiar form of copper known as nanotwinned copper. The crystal structure of nanotwinned copper exhibits many closely-spaced interruptions in an otherwise regular atomic array. These interruptions, despite being termed defects, actually increase the metals strength without reducing its ductility, making it attractive for applications such as semiconductor devices and thin film coatings. However, the relationship between the properties of these defects and those of the metals containing defects remains unclear.