“…They may also form in the way suggested by MD simulations [3]: after a single partial dislocation is nucleated, the nucleation of a trailing partial dislocation follows on the same slip plane, and as such a full dislocation will be formed when the trailing partial catches up with the leading one. The dislocation processes in nc grains are thermally activated, as revealed by the stronger-than-normal temperature/ strain rate dependence of the flow stresses [28][29][30][34][35][36]. At low deformation temperature, the relaxation/ adjustment in the grains and GBs is depressed, and the activation of dislocations would then rely largely on the local stress intensity (depending on the applied stresses, internal stresses, and the stress field of the leading partial).…”