Supersonic dislocations observed in a plasma crystal

Phys Rev Lett. 2007 Jul 13;99(2):025002. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.025002. Epub 2007 Jul 13.

Abstract

Experimental results on the dislocation dynamics in a two-dimensional plasma crystal are presented. Edge dislocations were created in pairs in lattice locations where the internal shear stress exceeded a threshold and then moved apart in the glide plane at a speed higher than the sound speed of shear waves, C(T). The experimental system, a plasma crystal, allowed observation of this process at an atomistic (kinetic) level. The early stage of this process is identified as a stacking fault. At a later stage, supersonically moving dislocations generated shear-wave Mach cones.