Electron-microscopic study of the slip systems in an Mg-4.5% Al-1% Zn alloy

Samples of a hot-rolled Mg-4.5% Al-1% Zn alloy plate cut normal to the rolling direction are studied to determine the density of dislocations with different Burgers vectors after warm rolling at low total strains. In the experiment, 22 different grains and their orientations are studied in a JEM-1000 high-voltage transmission electron microscope at an accelerated voltage of 750 kV using the WB DF technique (g, ng, where n = 2, 3, …) for the observation of dislocations. The main method used for the analysis of the Burgers vector of the dislocations is the invisibility criterion gb = 0. In the samples, dislocations with Burgers vectors 〈a〉, [c], and 〈a + c〉 are found. The dislocation dissociation reaction of the 〈a + c〉 dislocation into the 〈a〉 and [c] dislocations has been found for the first time, and an assumption is made that all of the found [c] dislocations result from this reaction. The density of the basal and nonbasal 〈a〉 dislocations does not depend on the orientation of the grains. Rarely found [c] and 〈a + c〉 dislocations are in grains whose orientations are near the texture maximum in the {0002} pole figure.