Ultra-strength materials

Recent experiments on nanostructured materials, such as nanoparticles, nanowires, nanotubes, nanopillars, thin films, and nanocrystals have revealed a host of “ultra-strength” phenomena, defined by stresses in a material component generally rising up to a significant fraction of its ideal strength - the highest achievable stress of a defect-free crystal at zero temperature. While conventional materials deform or fracture at sample-wide stresses far below the ideal strength, rapid development of nanotechnology has brought about a need to understand ultra-strength phenomena, as nanoscale materials apparently have a larger dynamic range of sustainable stress (“strength”) than conventional materials. Ultra-strength phenomena not only have to do with the shape stability and deformation kinetics of a component, but also the tuning of its physical and chemical properties by stress. Reaching ultra-strength enables “elastic strain engineering”, where by controlling the elastic strain field one achieves desired electronic, magnetic, optical, phononic, catalytic, etc. properties in the component, imparting a new meaning to Feynman’s statement “there’s plenty of room at the bottom”. This article presents an overview of the principal deformation mechanisms of ultra-strength materials. The fundamental defect processes that initiate and sustain plastic flow and fracture are described, and the mechanics and physics of both displacive and diffusive mechanisms are reviewed. The effects of temperature, strain rate and sample size are discussed. Important unresolved issues are identified.