Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Nanoscale deformation

Seeing is believing

Nature Materials volume 7, pages 97–98 (2008)Cite this article

When a wire coat hanger is bent it becomes mechanically stronger because of the imperfections that are introduced. In situ electron microscopy now shows that small metal structures are strengthened not by adding but by removing imperfections.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Direct observation of dislocation starvation as a result of mechanical loading1.

References

  1. Shan, Z. W., Mishra, R., Syed Asif, S. A., Warren, O. L. & Minor, A. M. Nature Mater. 7, 115–119 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Nix, W. D. Metall. Trans. 20A, 2217–2245 (1989).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Brenner, S. S. J. Appl. Phys. 27, 1484–1491 (1956).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Stelmashenko, N. A., Walls, M. G., Brown, L. M. & Millman, Y. V. Acta Metall. Mater. 41, 2855–2865 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Uchic, M. D., Dimiduk, D. M., Florando, J. N. & Nix, W. D. Science 305, 986–989 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Greer, J. R., Oliver, W. C. & Nix, W. D. Acta Mater. 53, 1821–1830 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Volkert, C. A. & Lilleodden, E. D. Phil. Mag. 86, 5567–5579 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Dimiduk, D. M., Uchic, M. D., Rao, S. I., Woodward, C. & Parthasarathy, T. A. Model. Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng. 15, 135–146 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Dimiduk, D. M., Woodward, C., LeSar, R. & Uchic, M. D. Science 312, 1188–1190 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Greer, J. R. & Nix, W. D. Phys. Rev. B 73, 245410 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Gilman, J. J. Micromechanics of Flow in Solids 185–190 (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1969).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 21218, Maryland, USA

    Kevin J. Hemker

  2. Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, California, USA

    William D. Nix

Authors
  1. Kevin J. Hemker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. William D. Nix
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hemker, K., Nix, W. Seeing is believing. Nature Mater 7, 97–98 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2103

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2103

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing