Molecular dynamics simulations of dislocation instability in a stress gradient

We present simulation studies of a morphological instability arising in dislocation dynamics. When an initially straight dislocation line is driven by a stress whose magnitude grows along the direction of dislocation motion, vibrational modes of the dislocation line with wavelength above a threshold value become linearly unstable. Molecular dynamics simulation studies of screw dislocations in Al demonstrate the onset of the instability during dislocation pair annihilation and annihilation at a crack tip. The wavelength of the unstable vibrational mode observed in each case agrees with the predictions of theoretical analysis. We discuss the role of temperature in nucleating the instability and speculate about how instabilities in dislocation motion could affect the density of threading dislocations during growth of heteroepitaxial thin films.