Where are the geometrically necessary dislocations accommodating small imprints

Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses of small indentations in copper single crystals exhibit only slight changes of the crystal orientation in the surroundings of the imprints. Far-reaching dislocations might be the reason for these small misorientation changes. Using EBSD and TEM technique, this work makes an attempt to visualize the far-propagating dislocations by introducing a twin boundary in the vicinity of small indentations. Because dislocations piled up at the twin boundary produce a misorientation gradient, the otherwise far-propagating dislocations can be detected.