On diffusion–elastic instabilities in a solid half-space

A model of the diffusion–elastic instability that appears in an ensemble of non-equilibrium atomic defects in unbounded condensed media as well as on the free surface of a half-space is introduced and studied. The dynamical model developed here is based on coupled evolution equations for the elastic displacement of the medium and atomic defect density fields. The idea of an instability model is related to a drift of atomic defects under the influence of elastic fields. It is shown that the development of this instability creates ordered structures of coupled strain and defect-concentration fields. Dispersion relationships for the growth increment of these structures are derived and their characteristic scales are obtained.