摘要

Energetic electron beams (e-beams) are used in the welding, 3D printing and imaging of various materials. It is commonly accepted that the e-beam irradiation inside transmission electron microscope has a negligible effect on the intrinsic mechanical properties of small-volume metallic materials during in situ investigation. However, as small-volume Al is usually covered by a thin layer of native oxide, we show here that high-energy (200 key) e-beam irradiation can dramatically alter the deformation behavior. E-beam irradiation can drastically rejuvenate the amorphous structure of the oxide layer, producing a defective interface/surface, and promoting the transition of the deformation mode from internal dislocation multiplication to interface-dominated dislocation nucleation mediated plasticity, as indicated by the enhanced strain rate sensitivity and reduced activation volume. Moreover, the amorphous oxide layer undergoes viscous flow under the e-beam irradiation, such that nanoscale single crystal Al confined by a 29% volume fraction of native oxide shell exhibits more than 60% uniform elongation.