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The study results of a systematic atomic-scale computational analysis of strain relaxation mechanisms and the related defect dynamics in nanometer-scale thin or ultrathin Cu films that are subjected to a broad range of biaxial tensile strains are reported. The defect nucleation mechanisms and the high-strain response of the thin films are found to be significantly different from those observed in -oriented Cu thin films.

The large-scale molecular-dynamics simulations of dynamic deformation under biaxial tensile strain of prestrained single-crystalline nanometer-scale-thick face-centered cubic (fcc) copper films are described. The results have shown that stacking faults have played a major role in the dissociation, cross slip and eventual annihilation of dislocations in small-volume structures of fcc metals.

The strain relaxation mechanisms and the associated defect dynamics in ultrathin Cu films subjected to a broad range of biaxial tensile strains are analyzed. The studies have shown that due to the defect mechanisms, nanoscale domains are formed in the crystalline film with an average domain size and low-angle misorientations.