Atomic-scale modeling of the annihilation of jogged screw dislocation dipoles

Using atomistic simulations we investigate the annihilation of screw dislocation dipoles in Cu. In particular we determine the influence of jogs on the annihilation barrier for screw dislocation dipoles. The simulations involve energy minimizations, molecular dynamics, and the Nudged Elastic Band method.

We find that jogs on screw dislocations substantially reduce the annihilation barrier, hence leading to an increase in the minimum stable dipole height.