Nucleation of Dislocations Accompanying Electric Breakdown in LiF Crystals

Abstract

``Dislocation Lichtenberg figures'' have been discovered on the surfaces of LiF crystals subjected to high inhomogeneous electric fields. The figures consist of thousands of dislocation loops arranged along [100] dendritic branches which are terminated by [110] branches. Etching is necessary to reveal the figures. It is shown that electric fields can nucleate dislocations in LiF crystals.