Transmission electron microscopy study of stacking faults and their interaction with pyramidal dislocations in deformed Mg

We present transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations of stacking faults (SFs) and their interactions with pyramidal dislocations, in plastically deformed polycrystalline pure magnesium. We have observed well-defined fringes as well as streaking in diffraction patterns, typical of SFs. The basal SFs are decorated by a large number of dark speckles, which are created by the interaction with pyramidal dislocations that have both 〈c〉 and 〈a〉 components as revealed by our contrast analysis. The SFs do not appear to result from the splitting of unit dislocations, as the SFs are relatively wide and no dislocation nodes were observed. By tilting the specimen systematically inside TEM, the SFs and the associated dislocations in Mg are found to exhibit a rich variety of features in terms of their morphology and diffraction contrast.