Crystal Stability and Microstructural Evolution in Polycrystalline Si Films During Ion Irradiation

1989 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry A. Atwater ◽  
Walter L. Brown

AbstractAmorphous Si is nucleated heterogeneously at grain boundaries during irradiation of polycrystalline Si by 1.5 MeV Xe+ ions for temperatures of 150–225°C. Following formation at grain boundaries, the amorphous Si layer grows at a rate comparable to the growth rate of a pre-existing amorphous-crystal interface, resulting in a decrease in average grain size and a marked change in the grain size distribution. The heterogeneous nucleation kinetics of amorphous Si are strongly dependent on grain boundary structure. A simple atomistic model for amorphous phase formation, which suggests that the nucleation kinetics are dependent on the point defect mobilities and grain boundary structure, is related to the experimental results.

2011 ◽  
Vol 683 ◽  
pp. 103-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Yang

The evolution of the microstructure and mechanical properties of electrodeposited nanocrystalline Ni with different annealing procedures was studied systematically. For the annealed specimens hardness decreases with increasing average grain size but the dependence changes at different grain size ranges. The specimens annealed at a low temperature show higher hardness compared to the as-deposited nanocrystalline Ni, despite an increased measured average grain size. In association with this hardening an increase in elastic modulus and a decrease in microstrain was observed after annealing. With increasing annealing temperature both the tensile strength and the fracture strain were observed to decrease, this is companied with a transition from ductile to brittle in the fracture surfaces. These results indicated that the mechanical behaviour of nanocrystalline Ni depends not only on the average grain size but also on the grain boundary structure. A change in the grain boundary state arising from annealing may be responsible for the observed increase in hardness and elastic modulus as well as the deterioration of tensile properties.


1991 ◽  
Vol 232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. J. Zhang ◽  
L. Withanawasam ◽  
G. C. Hadjipanayis ◽  
A. Kim

ABSTRACTThe coercivity of melt-spun Pr-Fe-B ribbons was found to increase with the addition of Cu and Al. The change in size and shape of grains with Cu and Al substitution were investigated by transmission eletron microscopy (TEM) and the grain boundary structure was further examined with high resolution electron microscopy (HREM). For small substitutions only “disturbed lattice” regions were observed at most of the grain boundaries. Secondary phases rich in the added elements were observed mostly at tripple grain boundaries and sometimes at grain boundaries in samples with larger amounts of substitution. The grain size in the substituted samples does not decrease much with further substitution. However, the shape of grains changes from polyhexagons to facets. The enhancement in coercivity can be explained by the grain size reduction and the modification of microstructure at the grain boundary regions.


1997 ◽  
Vol 492 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Van Swygenhoven ◽  
M. Spaczér ◽  
A. Caro

ABSTRACTMolecular dynamics computer simulations of high load plastic deformation at temperatures up to 500K of Ni nanophase samples with mean grain size of 5 nm are reported. Two types of samples are considered: a polycrystal nucleated from different seeds, each having random location and random orientation, representing a sample with mainly high angle grain boundaries, and polycrystals with seeds located at the same places as before, but with a limited missorientation representing samples with mainly low angle grain boundaries. The structure of the grain boundaries is studied by means of pair distribution functions, coordination number, atom energetics, and common neighbour analysis. Plastic behaviour is interpreted in terms of grain-boundary viscosity, controlled by a self diffusion mechanism at the disordered interface activated by thermal energy and stress.


2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (S02) ◽  
pp. 304-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
James P Buban ◽  
Katsuyuki Matsunaga ◽  
Takahisa Yamamoto ◽  
Yuichi Ikuhara

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2004 in Savannah, Georgia, USA, August 1–5, 2004.


1991 ◽  
Vol 05 (19) ◽  
pp. 2989-3028 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.I. RABKIN ◽  
L.S. SHVINDLERMAN ◽  
B.B. STRAUMAL

Recent theories of grain boundary structure have been reviewed briefly. The possibility of existence of the same variety of phase transitions on grain boundaries as that on the crystal external surface has been demonstrated. Recent experimental data and theoretical models concerning grain boundary phase transitions are critically analysed. Grain boundary phase transitions connected with the formation of thin disordered layers on the boundary (prewetting, premelting) are particularly distinguished. Results of recent indirect experiments, which may be treated in terms of prewetting and premelting, have been reviewed. Experimentally observed critical phenomena in the vicinity of the prewetting transition on the tin-germanium interphase boundary have been discussed in terms of the critical exponents theory. Some ideas regarding directions of further research are presented.


1990 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 919-928 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. Babcock ◽  
D. C. Larbalestier

Regular networks of localized grain boundary dislocations (GBDs) have been imaged by means of transmission electron microscopy in three different types of high-angle grain boundaries in YBa2Cu3O7-δ, implying that these boundaries possess ordered structures upon which a significant periodic strain field is superimposed. The occurrence of these GBD networks is shown to be consistent with the GBD/Structural Unit and Coincidence Site Lattice (CSL)/Near CSL descriptions for grain boundary structure. Thus, these dislocations appear to be intrinsic features of the boundary structure. The spacing of the observed GBDs ranged from ∼10 nm to ∼100 nm. These GBDs make the grain boundaries heterogeneous on a scale that approaches the coherence length and may contribute to their weak-link character by producing the “superconducting micro-bridge” microstructure which has been suggested on the basis of detailed electromagnetic measurements on similar samples.


2009 ◽  
Vol 1242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramos A. Mitsuo ◽  
Martínez F. Elizabeth ◽  
Negrete S. Jesús ◽  
Torres-Villaseñor G.

ABSTRACTZinalco alloy (Zn-21mass%Al-2mass%Cu) specimens were deformed superplastically with a strain rate (ε) of 1×10-3 s-1 at homologous temperature (TH) of 0.68 (5 ). It was observed neck formation that indicate nonhomegeneus deformation. Grain size and grain boundaries misorientation changes, due superplastic deformation, were characterized by Orientation Imagining Microscopy (OIM) technique. It was studied three regions in deformed specimens and the results were compared with the results for a specimen without deformation. Average grain size of 1 mm was observed in non-deformed specimen and a fraction of 82% for grain boundary misorientation angles with a grain boundaries angles between 15° and 55° was found. For deformed specimen, the fraction of angles between 15° and 55° was decreced to average value of 75% and fractions of low angle (<5°) and high angle (>55°) misorientations were 10% and 15% respectively. The grain size and high fraction of grain boundary misorientation angles between 15° and 55° observed in the alloy without deformation, are favorable for grain rotation and grain boundary sliding (GBS) procces. The changes observed in the fraction of favorable grain boundary angles during superplastic deformation, shown that the superplastic capacity of Zinalco was reduced with the deformation.


2007 ◽  
Vol 121-123 ◽  
pp. 1241-1244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Seok Seo ◽  
Hwan Kim ◽  
Jong Kook Lee

In this study, it was demonstrated how second phases with small amount, which are hardly detected by XRD analysis, affect grain boundary dissolution and related mechanical properties of HA. All HA disks sintered at 1200 oC for 2 h in air with under moisture protection were phase pure and had Ca/P molar ratio of 1.67. Following certain period of exposure to the distilled water, the surface dissolution initiated at grain boundaries and particle loosening, subsequently resulting in decrease in mechanical properties of HA. In order to understand the dissolution mechanism, grain boundary structure of HA was identified by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution TEM observation. From the analysis, it was found that the non-stoichiometric phase as α-tricalcium phosphate (TCP) transformed from β-TCP was existed at grain boundaries and caused surface dissolution of HA. From the XRD analysis, it was found that (211) and (112) planes of hydroxyapatite were susceptible to dissolution, whereas (300) plane was relatively stable.


1995 ◽  
Vol 391 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Hasunuma ◽  
H. Toyoda ◽  
T. Kawanoue ◽  
S. Ito ◽  
H. Kaneko ◽  
...  

AbstractIn order to clarify the relationship between Al line reliability and film microstructure, especially grain boundary structure and crystal texture, we have tested three kinds of highly textured Al lines, namely, single-crystal Al line, quasi-single-crystal Al line and hypertextured Al line, and two kinds of conventional Al lines deposited on TiN/Ti and on SiO2. Consequently, the empirical relation between the electromigration (EM) lifetime of Al line † and the (111) full width at half maximum (FWHM) value ω is described by † ∝ ω-2 [1]. This improvement of Al line reliability results from as following reasons; firstly, homogeneous microstructure and high activation energy of 1.28eV for the single-crystal Al line (ω=0.18°); secondly, sub-grain boundaries which consisted of dislocation arrays found in the quasi-single-crystal Al line (ω=0.26°) has turned out to be no more effective mass transport paths because dislocation lines are perpendicular to the direction of electron wind. Although there exist plural grain boundary diffusion paths in the newly developed hypertextured Al line (ω=0.5°) formed by using an amorphous Ta-Al underlayer {1], the vacancy flux along the line has been suppressed to the same order of magnitude of single crystal line. It has been clarified that the decrease of FWHM value has promoted the formation of sub-grain boundaries and low-angle boundaries with detailed orientation analysis of individual grains in the hypertextured film. The longer EM lifetime for the hypertextured Al line is considered to be due to the small grain boundary diffusivities for these stable grain boundaries, and this diffusivity reduction resulted in the suppression of void/hillock pair in the Al lines. These results have confirmed that controlling texture and/or grain boundary itself is a promising approach to develop reliable Al lines which withstand higher current densities required in future ULSIs.


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