The effect of a weak magnetic field on the mobility of dislocations in silicon

The magnetoplastic effect in dislocation silicon is discovered. It is shown that in the presence of tensile stresses (up to 20 MPa), the mechanically activated path of surface dislocation half-loops is limited mainly by the d ynamics of defects in various slip systems relative to the applied load. Th e activation barriers for the motion of dislocations controlled by various conditions in the temperature range T = 850-950 K are E-aF = 2.1 +/- 0.1 eV and E-aS = 1.8 +/- 0.1 eV. An increase in the path of surface dislocation half-loops and a change in the activation barriers are detected (E-aF = 1.4 +/- 0.1 eV and E-aS = 1.6 +/- 0.1 eV) after subjecting silicon to a magnet ic field (B = 0.7 T) for 30 min. Possible reasons behind the observed effec ts are discussed. (C) 2001 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".