Basal twinning as a room temperature plastic deformation mode of chromium- and titanium-doped sapphire crystals

The degree of basal twinning caused by indentation was determined quantitatively on a series of chromium and titanium doped sapphire crystals with variours dopant contents. It depends on the dopant content significantly. The effect of titanium ions in reducing the degree of twinning is more pronounced than that of chromium dopants. This “size effect” of the dopant ions is consistent with the mechanism of basal twinning as reported by KRONBERG .