Institute of Metals Division - Polygonization of Rock Salt (TN)

WHEN a single crystal is annealed following plastic deformation recrystallization usually occurs rather than polygonization. Consequently, re-crystallization has received the overwhelming amount of attention albeit the intrinsic mechanisms by which dislocations rearrange and annihilate one another are just as well revealed by crystal polygonization. It is the purpose of this note to demonstrate the usefulness of studying the polygonization process by means of an etch-pit technique in sodium chloride. Sodium chloride deforms easily (the slip system is of the [110], (110) type), readily cleaves on (100) planes, and can be chemically etched so as to reveal the intersection of dislocations with a free surface. Thus it is possible to observe the distribution of dislocations after a crystal has undergone a specific deformation and annealing cycle. Various phases of the polygonization process