DYNAMICS OF DISLOCATIONS IN II-VI COMPOUNDS UNDER ELECTRONIC EXCITATION - A TEM IN-SITU STUDY

TEM ''in situ'' deformation experiments are performed to study the inf luence of electron irradiation on the dislocation mobility in a II-VI semiconductor compound: ZnS, in the temperature range 290 to 450 K. It is shown that dislocation glide is strongly enhanced under electronic excitation while being still controlled by the Peierls mechanism. The lattice friction is lowered under excitation. The origin of the obser ved reduction in activation energy is discussed in relation with the p redictions of a recent theoretical model.