Fig. 7

Simulation of a twin interface crater by using a dipole of disclination loops. a 2D Sketch of the initial crater configuration (blue lines). Blue triangles denote wedge disclinations. b 2D sketch of the dynamics of the crater. Dotted horizontal lines denote adjacent planes parallel to the twin plane and separated by elementary steps h. Orange triangles show the new position of disclinations, leading to the nucleation of steps and edge dislocations, i.e. disconnections. c Initial dipole of square disclination loops forming the crater (blue lines). (d,e,f) Generation of dislocation loops (red lines) from the out of plane motion of disclination loops of opposite sign (orange lines). The lower dislocation loop shrinks while the upper one expands and reaches an equilibrium position