Internal and effective stresses in nanocrystalline electrodeposited Ni

Stress reduction experiments performed during tensile deformation of nanocrystalline electrodeposited Ni demonstrate high values for the effective and the internal stress as compared to coarse grained metals and evidence the existence of a negative creep. The results are interpreted in terms of a thermally activated dislocation mechanism where propagation is hindered by pinning at grain boundaries. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.