Statistics of dislocation slip avalanches in nanosized single crystals show tuned critical behavior predicted by a simple mean field model

Phys Rev Lett. 2012 Aug 31;109(9):095507. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.095507. Epub 2012 Aug 30.

Abstract

We show that slowly sheared metallic nanocrystals deform via discrete strain bursts (slips), whose size distributions follow power laws with stress-dependent cutoffs. We show for the first time that plasticity reflects tuned criticality, by collapsing the stress-dependent slip-size distributions onto a predicted scaling function. Both power-law exponents and scaling function agree with mean-field theory predictions. Our study of 7 materials and 2 crystal structures, at various deformation rates, stresses, and crystal sizes down to 75 nm, attests to the universal characteristics of plasticity.