Shear stress-driven refreshing capability of plastic deformation in nanolayered metals

Severely localized deformation within shear bands can occur much more easily in a metal with nanoscale microstructures, such as nanograined and nanolayered materials. Based on atomic-scale observations, here we show that such locally large deformation (the continuous thinning of the layers) within the indentation-induced shear bands of the Cu/Au nanolayers is essentially attributed to the large shear stress component along the interface, which can refresh the capability of the interface to absorb incoming dislocations through unlocking the product of the dislocation-interface reaction. The results have implications for understanding the interface-mediated mechanisms of plastic deformation and for the engineering application of severe plastic deformation processing of metals at nanoscales.