Abstract
The formation of silicon (Si) in its -Sn form is known to be nucleation limited,
with an undetermined period of time between when critical pressure for the trans-
formation is reached and when the transformation actually occurs. In this letter,
we use nanoindentation to apply critical pressure to diamond cubic Si and hold the
sample under pressure to promote deformation via phase transformation and crys-
talline defects. We report that the number of indents in which phase transformation
is observed increases with increasing hold time. Interestingly, the number of indents
in which crystalline defects are observed also increase with increasing hold time,
suggesting crystalline defects are also nucleation limited. Raman spectroscopy and
cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy is used to show that these two de-
formation mechanisms are mutually exclusive under the indentation conditions used
within this letter.
