Low Temperature, High Stress Plastic Deformation of Semiconductors: The Silicon Case

Low temperature deformation experiments of silicon under confining pressure are analyzed with reference to a possible transition at high applied stress τt between dissociated glide configuration and perfect shuffle as extrapolated from the calculations of Duesbery and Joos (Phil. Mag. Lett. 74, 253 (1996)) as well as the low temperature deformation experiments on compound semiconductors (CSC). It is shown that experiments performed at a higher value of the expected transition stress have not put forward the evidence of such a transition. The influence of a preexisting population of glide dislocations on such a transition in the deformation mechanisms is also discussed.