Dislocation nucleation and defect structure during surface indentation

We model indentation of a metal surface by combining an atomistic metal with a hard-sphere indenter. This work provides atomistic imaging of dislocation nucleation during displacement controlled indentation on a passivated surface. Dislocations and defects are located and imaged by local deviations from centrosymmetry. For a Au(111) surface, nucleation of partial dislocation loops occurs below the surface inside the indenter contact area. We...