Fig. 2: Extended slip band (E-SB) and the microscopic and atomic structures.

a Schmid factors for partial dislocations gliding on the four non-parallel planes and their variations with compression-induced rotation. Solid and dashed lines denote leading and trailing partial dislocations, respectively. b SEM image of [100]-oriented micropillar after plastic compression, showing widened deformation strips. c BF-STEM images exhibit ribbon-like extended slip bands along the ABD plane. The red color highlights these E-SBs. d Magnified BF-STEM image illustrates three representative regimes of the deformed pillar. Regime i represents the boundary of the band, regime ii for the band interior, and regime iii for the interface between two bands. e–g Atomic resolution HAADF-STEM elucidates the defects in the three regimes. The E-SB comprises a series of nano-twins, interspaced by thin hcp lamellae and stacking faults.