Characteristic dislocation substructure in 101¯2 twins in hexagonal metals

Based on transmission electron microscopy results from pure Mg single crystal examined in the current work, and Mg alloys and other hexagonal metals in literature, a characteristic dislocation substructure inside 101¯2 twins is identified. Abundant non-basal [c] and ⟨c + a⟩ perfect dislocations, as well as basal I₁ stacking faults with widths on the order of 100 nm distributed preferentially in the vicinity of a twin boundary, with a low density zone in the middle of the twin. Considering the ubiquity of 101¯2 twins, this characteristic dislocation substructure should be considered in modeling of hexagonal metal alloy deformation.