Comparative study of the mechanical behavior under biaxial strain of prestrained face-centered cubic metallic ultrathin films.

We report a molecular-dynamics study of the mechanical response to dynamic biaxial tensile straining of nanometer-scale-thick Al, Cu, and Ni films. We find that the mechanical behavior of such films of face-centered cubic metals with moderate-to-high propensity for stacking-fault formation (Cu and Ni) is significantly different from those where such propensity is low (Al). The plastic strain rate in Cu and Ni films is greater than that in Al ones, leading to an extended easy-glide stage in Cu and Ni but not in Al films. These differences arise due to the different dislocation annihilation mechanisms in the two film categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]