The plastic deformation of Al samples, of the technical alloys AlMgSi0.5, and AlMg3 was studied by Doppler-broadening spectroscopy ͑DBS͒ of the positron annihilation line. First, the defect sensitive line-shape parameter S was measured after the application of axial tensile stress, and the corresponding stress-strain curves were recorded that allowed us to correlate the strain, the mechanical stress and the S-parameter values after mechanical load quantitatively. In a next step, asymmetrically deformed Al samples were investigated with a monoenergetic positron beam by DBS in order to obtain the laterally resolved information of the stress-induced defects. It is demonstrated that the resulting two-dimensional S-parameter map ͑scan area 14ϫ 14 mm 2 , step width 1 mm͒ can be expressed quantitatively in terms of the locally acting stress which is responsible for the creation of the lattice defects.