The paper by Julia R. Greer and William D. Nix explores the phenomenon of dislocation starvation, a mechanism that enhances the strength of submicrometer-sized gold crystals. The authors demonstrate that these small gold crystals can be 50 times stronger than their bulk counterparts due to the elimination of defects during deformation. They fabricate gold nanopillars using focused ion beam (FIB) machining and microlithography/electroplating techniques, which are then tested under uniaxial compression. The stress-strain curves of these pillars show a significant increase in strength compared to bulk gold, with the smallest pillar reaching a compressive stress of 800 MPa at 10% strain. The authors attribute this high strength to dislocation starvation, where mobile dislocations annihilate at free surfaces rather than multiplying and interacting with other dislocations. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations support this hypothesis by showing the absence of mobile dislocations in the deformed pillars. The study also addresses concerns about gallium ion implantation and surface damage, providing evidence that these factors do not significantly affect the observed strength. The findings are compared with computational models, which generally agree with the experimental results, though some differences may arise due to idealizations in the models.The paper by Julia R. Greer and William D. Nix explores the phenomenon of dislocation starvation, a mechanism that enhances the strength of submicrometer-sized gold crystals. The authors demonstrate that these small gold crystals can be 50 times stronger than their bulk counterparts due to the elimination of defects during deformation. They fabricate gold nanopillars using focused ion beam (FIB) machining and microlithography/electroplating techniques, which are then tested under uniaxial compression. The stress-strain curves of these pillars show a significant increase in strength compared to bulk gold, with the smallest pillar reaching a compressive stress of 800 MPa at 10% strain. The authors attribute this high strength to dislocation starvation, where mobile dislocations annihilate at free surfaces rather than multiplying and interacting with other dislocations. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations support this hypothesis by showing the absence of mobile dislocations in the deformed pillars. The study also addresses concerns about gallium ion implantation and surface damage, providing evidence that these factors do not significantly affect the observed strength. The findings are compared with computational models, which generally agree with the experimental results, though some differences may arise due to idealizations in the models.