The buckling of a thin plate due to the presence of an edge dislocation

It is shown that an edge dislocation parallel to the surface of a thin foil causes buckling of this foil by an angle of about θ = b/t. (b = Burgers vector; t = thickness of the foil). The angle θ depends on the position of the dislocation. It is maximum for a dislocation in the middle of the foil and it tends to zero as the dislocation approaches to the surface. It is shown that the buckling is responsible for the discontinuous change in contrast along a dislocation as observed in transmission electron microscopy. The sense of buckling which can be determined by means of Kikuchi lines depends on the sign of the dislocation. The effect therefore provides an easy means to determine the sign of edge dislocations.