Origin of brittle cleavage in iridium.

Iridium is unique among the face-centered cubic metals in that it undergoes brittle cleavage after a period of plastic deformation under tensile stress. Atomistic simulation using a quantum-mechanically derived bond-order potential shows that in iridium, two core structures for the screw dislocation are possible: a glissile planar core and a metastable nonplanar core. Transformation between the two core structures is athermal and leads to exceptionally high rates of cross slip during plastic deformation.