Plasticity of indium antimonide between-176 and 400 °C under pressure. Part I: Macroscopic aspects of the deformation

Indium antimonide (InSb) single crystals have been plastically deformed between -176 and 400 degrees C, i.e. below and above the brittle-to-ductile transition temperature situated around 150-160 degrees C, via the use of microindentation below room temperature (RT) and the Paterson press (compression under gaseous pressure) above RT. The evolution of the macroscopic mechanical data (hardness and critical resolved shear stress) with temperature suggests the existence of three deformation regimes with transitions at T-tr1 = 150 degrees C and T-tr2 (=) 20 degrees C. T-tr1 coincides with the brittle-to-ductile temperature, while T-tr2 may coincide with a transition in the nature of dislocations with dislocations propagating in the glide set above T-tr2 while moving in the shuffle set below Ttr(2). (C) 2009 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.