Stacking faults and the plastic properties of intermetallic compounds

Abstract

The measurement of low, medium and high stacking fault energies is reviewed. Two methods appropriate to high fault energies are illustrated: (i) using a configuration which gives a specially large partial separation (ii) measuring the minimum size of screw dipoles. Other aspects of faults are mentioned: the importance of supplementary displacements to APB contrast and the possible implications of a strain field to ± g weak beam image asymmetry. Finally, the influences of temperature and composition on fault energies are discussed.