Bent Cu–Al–Ni nanopillars
(diameters 90–750 nm) show a shape memory effect, SME, for
diameters D > 300 nm. The SME and the associated
twinning are located in a small deformed section of the nanopillar.
Thick nanopillars (D > 300 nm) transform to austenite
under heating, including the deformed region. Thin nanopillars (D < 130 nm) do not twin but generate highly disordered
sequences of stacking faults in the deformed region. No SME occurs
and heating converts only the undeformed regions into austenite. The
defect-rich, deformed region remains in the martensite phase even
after prolonged heating in the stability field of austenite. A complex
mixture of twins and stacking faults was found for diameters 130 nm
< D < 300 nm. The size effect of the SME in
Cu–Al–Ni nanopillars consists of an approximately linear
reduction of the SME between 300 and 130 nm when the SME completely
vanishes for smaller diameters.