Spinodal twinning of a deformed crystal WangYi Wook HeoTae ChenLong-Qing 2014 <div><p>We propose the possibility of a spinodal mechanism for deformation twinning in addition to the nucleation and growth mechanism assumed in all existing studies of twinning, using the thermodynamic stability analysis of a homogeneously deformed crystal by examining its energy landscape as a function of strain along the twinning direction obtained from first-principles calculations. Twinning occurs continuously owing to thermodynamic instability with respect to twinning at large shear strains, whereas it can only take place through the nucleation and growth mechanism at small shear strains.</p></div>