The stacking-fault energy of nickel

Abstract The weak-beam method of electron microscopy has been used to study dis sociated edge dislocations and faulted dipoles in nickel. Micrographs have been compared with many-beam computed image profiles to deduce values for the dimensions of the defects, and these results are then used in conjunction with anisotropic elasticity theory to obtain the stacking-fault energy, γ, or an upper limit, γmax. The interpretation of these results is discussed and it is concluded that the true value of γ is most likely to lie in the range γ ∼120–130 mJ m−2.