We report a method to incorporate dislocation climb controlled by bulk diffusion in a three-dimensional discrete dislocation dynamics (DDD) simulation for fcc metals. In this model we couple the vacancy diffusion theory to the DDD in order to obtain the climb rate of the dislocation segments. The capability of the model to reproduce the motion of climbing dislocations is examined by calculating several test-cases of pure climb-related phenomena and comparing the results with existing analytical predictions and experimental observations. As test-cases, the DDD is used to study the activation of Bardeen–Herring sources upon the application of an external stress or under vacancy supersaturation. Loop shrinkage and expansion due to vacancy emission or absorption is shown to be well described by our model. In particular, the model naturally describes the coarsening of a population of loops having different sizes.

Crystal defects induce strong distortions in diffraction patterns. A single defect alone can yield strong and fine features that are observed in high-resolution diffraction experiments such as coherent X-ray diffraction. The case of face-centred cubic nanocrystals is studied numerically and the signatures of typical defects close to Bragg positions are identified. Crystals of a few tens of nanometres are modelled with realistic atomic potentials and `relaxed' after introduction of well defined defects such as pure screw or edge dislocations, or Frank or prismatic loops. Diffraction patterns calculated in the kinematic approximation reveal various signatures of the defects depending on the Miller indices. They are strongly modified by the dissociation of the dislocations. Selection rules on the Miller indices are provided, to observe the maximum effect of given crystal defects in the initial and relaxed configurations. The effect of several physical and geometrical parameters such as stacking fault energy, crystal shape and defect position are discussed. The method is illustrated on a complex structure resulting from the simulated nanoindentation of a gold nanocrystal.