Prediction of the threshold load of dislocation emission in silicon during nanoscratching

Abstract This paper establishes an analytical model to predict the normal threshold load that causes the emission of partial dislocations in silicon during nanoscratching. In the modeling, the deformation mechanisms and the sequence of microstructural changes already explored by experiment and molecular dynamics will be exactly followed; that is, with increasing the normal load of nanoscratching, phase transformation first takes place, followed by partial dislocation emission from the interface between the phase transformed zone and the original crystalline silicon when the scratching load reaches its threshold. The model postulates that the emission process represents the generation of a dipole of Shockley partial dislocations. One partial dislocation of the dipole, located at the interface, is considered immobile, while the other partial dislocation moves into the bulk of the crystalline silicon. The mobile partial dislocation slips along a crystallographic plane, and a stacking fault is formed in its wake. Based on the above, the threshold normal scratching load for the emission of a partial dislocation is determined by means of the energy criterion. The influence of the indenter geometry and the location of dislocation nucleation on the threshold normal scratching load is then investigated. Compared with the deformation of silicon under nanoindentation, the present study concludes that the threshold load under scratching is always smaller, and that a sharp indenter leads to a relatively smaller threshold load. The model prediction is well verified by scratching experiments.