Atomistic Mechanisms of Twin-Twin Interactions in Cu Nanopillars

Twinning is an important mode of plastic deformation in metallic nanowires. When twinning occurs on multiple systems, it is possible that twins belonging to different twin systems interact and forms a complex twin-twin junctions. However, limited attention has been paid to characterize the twin-twin interactions in nanowires. In this paper, we report two different twin-twin interactions/junctions, one containing two twin boundaries along with one ∑9 boundary and the other with five twin boundaries (five-fold twin), which are observed during the deformation of Cu nanowires. Further, we explain the detailed mechanisms responsible for the formation of such junctions using atomistic simulations.