Grain Growth in Thin Films With Variable Grain Boundary Energy

1993 ◽  
Vol 317 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.J. Frost ◽  
Y. Hayashi ◽  
C.V. Thompson ◽  
D.T. Walton

ABSTRACTIn simulations of grain growth in thin films we have considered the effect of variations in grain boundary energy. Boundary energy depends on both the misorientation between the two neighboring grains, and the angles which the boundary plane makes with the crystallographic axes of the two crystals. Variations in grain boundary energy mean that dihedral angles at triple junctions deviate from 120°. The proportionality between boundary velocities and local curvatures, and the critical curvature for boundary pinning due to surface grooving also both depend on boundary energy. One effect of variable boundary energies is that grains no longer gain or lose area at rates determined solely by their topology or number of sides. (They no longer obey the Von Neumann/Mullins law). Another effect is that as the grain structures evolve, the fraction of high-energy boundaries decreases. Also, the stagnant structures have broader grain size distributions.

1994 ◽  
Vol 338 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.J. Frost ◽  
Y. Hayashi ◽  
C.V. Thompson ◽  
D.T. Walton

ABSTRACTGrain growth in thin-film strips is important to interconnect reliability because grain boundary structures strongly effect the rate and mechanism of electromigration-induced failure. Previous simulations of this process have indicated that the transformation to the fully bamboo structure proceeds at a rate which decreases exponentially with time, and which is inversely proportional to the square of the strip width. We have also reported that grain boundary pinning due to surface grooving implies that there exists a maximum strip width to thickness ratio beyond which the transformation to the bamboo structure does not proceed to completion. In this work we have extended our simulation of grain growth in thin films and thin film strips to consider the effects of variations in grain boundary energy. Boundary energy is taken to depend on the misorientation between the two neighboring grain and the resulting variations in grain boundary energy mean that dihedral angles at triple junctions deviate from 120°. The proportionality between boundary velocities and local curvatures, and the critical curvature for boundary pinning due to surface grooving also both depend on boundary energy. In the case of thin-film strips, the effect of boundary energy variability is to impede the transformation to the bamboo structure, and reduce the width above which the complete bamboo structure is never reached. Those boundaries which do remain upon stagnation tend to be of low energy (low misorientation angle) and are therefore probably of low diffusivity, so that their impact on reliability is probably reduced.


1986 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Przetakiewicz ◽  
K. J. Kurzydłowski ◽  
M. W. Grabski

2004 ◽  
Vol 467-470 ◽  
pp. 935-940 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Piazolo ◽  
Vera G. Sursaeva ◽  
David J. Prior

First results from grain growth experiments in a columnar structured Al foil show several interesting features: (a) the grain size distribution remains heterogeneous even after up to 300 min. annealing and (b) the Von Neumann-Mullins relation is not always satisfied. To clarify the underlying reasons for these features, in-situ heating experiments within a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) were combined with detailed Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) analysis. These show that the movement of boundaries can be strongly heterogeneous. For example, the complete replacement of one grain by a neighbouring grain without significant change of the surrounding grain boundary topology is frequently seen. Experiments show that grain boundary energy and/or mobility are anisotropic both with respect to misorientation and orientation of grain boundary plane. Low energy and/or mobility boundaries are commonly low angle boundaries, twin boundaries and boundaries that form traces to a low index plane of at least one of the adjacent grains. As a consequence the Von Neumann-Mullins relation is not always satisfied.


2012 ◽  
Vol 715-716 ◽  
pp. 146-151
Author(s):  
K.J. Ko ◽  
A.D. Rollett ◽  
N.M. Hwang

The selective abnormal grain growth (AGG) of Goss grains in Fe-3%Si steel was investigated using a parallel Monte-Carlo (MC) simulation based on the new concept of sub-boundary enhanced solid-state wetting. Goss grains with low angle sub-boundaries will induce solid-state wetting against matrix grains with a moderate variation in grain boundary energy. Three-dimensional MC simulations of microstructure evolution with textures and grain boundary distributions matched to experimental data is using in this study.


2012 ◽  
Vol 715-716 ◽  
pp. 776-781
Author(s):  
Santidan Biswas ◽  
Indradev Samajdar ◽  
Arunansu Haldar ◽  
Anirban Sain

The microstructure of a material determines its mechanical properties. Since microstructure can be tailored by thermo-mechanical processing of the metal, it is important to understand how the microstructure evolves under thermo-mechanical processing. We have constructed a phase field formalism to study recrystallization and grain growth in polycrystalline material. A unique feature of our model is that the Euler Angles (φ1,φ,φ2), obtained from Electron Back Scattered Diffraction (EBSD) data of a polycrystalline sample can be taken as an input to our model. In our model, the grain orientations at discrete grid points are represented by a non-conserved vector field, namely a quaternion. The free energy used for the evolution of the local orientations contains bulk energy for various preferred grain types and grain boundary energy. The grain orientations evolve in time following a Langevin dynamics. So far we have established that the rate of grain growth follows the usual L ~ t1/2scaling law when the grain boundary energy is independent of the misorientation angle between neighboring grains. Work on other aspects of this model is in progress.


1992 ◽  
Vol 278 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. E. Fradkov ◽  
M. E. Glicksman ◽  
J. Nordberg ◽  
M. Palmer ◽  
K. Rajan

AbstractGrain growth in polycrystals occurs by decreasing the total number of grains as a result of the disappearance of small ones. That is why the both the kinetic and topological details of shrinking of small grains are important.In 2-D, “uniform boundary model” assumptions imply the von Neumann-Mullins law, and all grains having less than 6 neighbors tend to shrink. The mean topological class ef vanishing grains was found experimentally to be about 4.3. This result suggests that most vanishing grains are either 4- or 5-sided, not transforming to 3-sided ones.Shrinking of 4- and 5-sided 2-D grains was studied experimentally on transparent, pure SCN, (succinonitrile) polycrystalline films and by direct computer simulation of grain boundary capillary motion together with triple junctions. It was found that the grains which are much smaller than their neighbors are topologically stable.


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