Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with an EAM potential are carried out to study the strain rate effects on the tensile deformation of single-crystal copper films. The stress, the atomic energy, as well as the atomic configurations of the systems are presented to explore the strain rate effects on copper films. It is found that yield stress increases with loading rate. Meanwhile, deformation mechanisms with different strain rates are analyzed in the present work. At lower strain rate, slips along {111} planes are primarily responsible for the plastic deformation in nano-Cu films. As strain rate increased, the motion of dislocations becomes easier, a transition of the deformation mechanism from sequential propagation of slips along well-defined slip planes to complex cross-slip.
Single-crystal copper films on sapphire