  We investigate theoretically the effects of elastic and plastic deformations
on heterogeneous nucleation and nanowire formation. In the first case, the
influence of the confinement of the critical nucleus between two parallel
misfitting substrates is investigated using scaling arguments. We present phase
diagrams giving the nature of the nucleation regime as a function of the
driving force and the degree of confinement. We complement this analytical
study by amplitude equations simulations. In the second case, the influence of
a screw dislocation inside a nanowire on the development of the morphological
surface stability of the wire, related to the Rayleigh-Plateau instability, is
examined. Here the screw dislocation provokes a torsion of the wire known as
Eshelby twist. Numerical calculations using the finite element method and the
amplitude equations are performed to support analytical investigations. It is
shown that the screw dislocation promotes the Rayleigh-Plateau instability.
