Grain Growth Suppression and Enhancement by Interdiffusion in Thin Films

1994 ◽  
Vol 343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander H. King ◽  
Karen E. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Grain Growth ◽  
Electrical Resistance ◽  
Growth Suppression ◽  
Grain Structure ◽  
Growth Enhancement ◽  
Metallic Films ◽  
Fundamental Understanding ◽  
Solute Atoms ◽  
Almost All

ABSTRACTGrain structure and grain growth in thin metallic films are important because of their effects on properties such as yield strength, electrical resistance and electromigration resistance. Since almost all thin films are used in contact with a substrate and many also have contacts with overlayers, it is important to consider how interactions with other materials affect the grain growth process. In this paper we consider the effects of diffusive interactions. We will show that interdiffusion often accompanies grain growth and that it can result in a number of novel grain boundary reactions, driven by a variety of effects. Using TEM techniques, we demonstrate cases of grain growth suppression and grain growth enhancement resulting from interdiffusion of solute atoms in gold thin films. The reasons for the observed effects will be considered with a view to providing a fundamental understanding of the types of systems that might be expected to exhibit the various phenomena.

scholarly journals Ion Beam Enhanced Grain Growth in Thin Films

1986 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry A. Atwater ◽  
Carl V. Tiiompson ◽  
Henry I. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Growth Rate ◽  
Grain Boundary ◽  
Grain Growth ◽  
Thermal Equilibrium ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Defect Concentration ◽  
Growth Enhancement ◽  
Frenkel Defect ◽  
Good Agreement

AbstractIon beam enhanced grain growth has been investigated in thin films of Ge. Grain boundary mobilities are greatly enhanced over their thermal equilibrium values and exhibit a very weak temperature dependence. We propose that defects which are generated by the ion beam at or near the grain boundary are responsible for the boundary mobility enhancement. Films of Ge deposited under different conditions, either unsupported or on thermally oxidized Si, exhibit similar normal grain growth enhancement when implanted with 50 keV Ge+. Beam-enhanced grain growth in Ge was also demonstrated using Xe+, Kr+, and Ar+ ions. The variation in growth enhancement with projectile ion mass is in good agreement with the enhanced Frenkel defect population calculated using a modified Kinchin-Pease formula and Monte Carlo simulation of ion transport in thin films. Calculations based on experiments suggest that there is approximately one atomic jump across the grain boundary per defect generated. Also, the grain growth rate for a given beam-generated defect concentration near the boundary is approximately equal to the expected growth rate for the same defect concentration if thermally generated.

Observations Of Grain Growth In Thin Films

1991 ◽  
Vol 238 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Smith ◽  
S. J. Townsend ◽  
C. S. Nichols
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Grain Growth ◽  
Pure Metal ◽  
Grain Structure ◽  
Metallic Films ◽  
Ion Probe ◽  
Grain Structures ◽  
Transmission Electron

ABSTRACTGrain growth occurs during the deposition and subsequent processing of metallic films. Observation of the grain structure by scanning ion probe microscopy and grain growth by in situ transmission electron microscopy using a heating stage serves to define some characteristic grain structures and their evolution in pure metal and alloy films used for metallisation.

In situ TEM Observations of Grain Growth in Nanograined Thin Films

2004 ◽  
Vol 854 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Hattar ◽  
J. Gregg ◽  
J. Han ◽  
T. Saif ◽  
I. M. Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Grain Growth ◽  
Elevated Temperatures ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Grain Structure ◽  
In Situ Tem ◽  
Free Standing ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy Analysis ◽  
Cu Films

ABSTRACTIn situ transmission electron microscopy analysis is used to study the stability of nanograined and ultra-fine grained thin films at elevated temperatures. In the free-standing Au and Cu films, grain growth was dependent on annealing temperature and time with growth observed in both materials at temperatures greater than 373K. Both materials exhibited abnormal grain growth although it was more prevalent in Au than in Cu, which may be a consequence of pinning of the Cu grain boundaries by impurities. The formation and destruction of twins was observed to play a critical role in the grain growth, with the twins retarding the growth in gold, but not in Cu. In constrained Au films no grain growth was observed on annealing at temperatures below 636 K. At 636 K, the eutectic temperature, the microstructure transformed to the eutectic structure with the first stage being the annihilation of the grain structure.

TEM studies of solid-state reactions in sputter-deposited Nb/Al multilayer thin films

1996 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 1020-1021
Author(s):  
F. Ma ◽  
S. Vivekanand ◽  
K. Barmak ◽  
C. Michaelsen
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Solid State ◽  
Stoichiometric Composition ◽  
Analytical Electron Microscopy ◽  
Grain Structure ◽  
Solid State Reactions ◽  
Multilayer Thin Films ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Sputter Deposited

Solid state reactions in sputter-deposited Nb/Al multilayer thin films have been studied by transmission and analytical electron microscopy (TEM/AEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The Nb/Al multilayer thin films for TEM studies were sputter-deposited on (1102)sapphire substrates. The periodicity of the films is in the range 10-500 nm. The overall composition of the films are 1/3, 2/1, and 3/1 Nb/Al, corresponding to the stoichiometric composition of the three intermetallic phases in this system.Figure 1 is a TEM micrograph of an as-deposited film with periodicity A = dA1 + dNb = 72 nm, where d's are layer thicknesses. The polycrystalline nature of the Al and Nb layers with their columnar grain structure is evident in the figure. Both Nb and Al layers exhibit crystallographic texture, with the electron diffraction pattern for this film showing stronger diffraction spots in the direction normal to the multilayer. The X-ray diffraction patterns of all films are dominated by the Al(l 11) and Nb(l 10) peaks and show a merging of these two peaks with decreasing periodicity.

scholarly journals Precipitation Criterion for Inhibiting Austenite Grain Coarsening during Carburization of Al-Containing 20Cr Gear Steels

Metals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 504
Author(s):  
Huasong Liu ◽  
Yannan Dong ◽  
Hongguang Zheng ◽  
Xiangchun Liu ◽  
Peng Lan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grain Growth ◽  
Abnormal Grain Growth ◽  
Grain Structure ◽  
Pinning Force ◽  
Grain Coarsening ◽  
Zener Pinning ◽  
Austenite Grain ◽  
Composition Optimization ◽  
Gear Steels ◽  
Grain Growth Behavior

AlN precipitates are frequently adopted to pin the austenite grain boundaries for the high-temperature carburization of special gear steels. For these steels, the grain coarsening criterion in the carburizing process is required when encountering the composition optimization for the crack-sensitive steels. In this work, the quantitative influence of the Al and N content on the grain size after carburization is studied through pseudocarburizing experiments based on 20Cr steel. According to the grain structure feature and the kinetic theory, the abnormal grain growth is demonstrated as the mode of austenite grain coarsening in carburization. The AlN precipitate, which provides the dominant pinning force, is ripened in this process and the particle size can be estimated by the Lifshitz−Slyosov−Wagner theory. Both the mass fraction and the pinning strength of AlN precipitate show significant influence on the grain growth behavior with the critical values indicating the grain coarsening. These criteria correspond to the conditions of abnormal grain growth when bearing the Zener pinning, which has been analyzed by the multiple phase-field simulation. Accordingly, the models to predict the austenite grain coarsening in carburization were constructed. The prediction is validated by the additional experiments, resulting in accuracies of 92% and 75% for the two models, respectively. Finally, one of the models is applied to optimize the Al and N contents of commercial steel.

Ionic Conductivities of Doped CeO2 Thin Films as Related to Their Microstructure

1995 ◽  
Vol 411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunyan Tian ◽  
Siu-Wai Chan
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Electrical Properties ◽  
Ionic Conductivities ◽  
Dielectric Constants ◽  
Grain Structure ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Fine Grain ◽  
Brick Layer Model ◽  
Columnar Grain ◽  
Beam Deposition

ABSTRACTThin films of 4% Y2O3 doped CeO2/Pd film/(001)LaA103 with a very low pinhole density were successfully prepared using electron-beam deposition technique. The microstructure of the films was characterized by x-ray diffraction and the electrical properties were studied as a function of temperature with AC impedance spectroscopy. A brick layer model was adopted to correlate the electrical properties to the microstructure of the films, which can be simplified as either a series or a parallel equivalent circuit associated with either a fine grain or a columnar grain structure, respectively. The conductivities of the films fell between the conductivities derived from the two circuit models, suggesting that the films are of a mixed fine grain and columnar grain structure. The measured dielectric constants of the films were found smaller than that of the bulk.

Characterization of the order-annealing response of nanostructured iron-palladium based ferromagnetic thin-films

2001 ◽  
Vol 703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiping Xu ◽  
Adam T. Wise ◽  
Timothy J. Klemmer ◽  
Jörg M. K. Wiezorek
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Grain Growth ◽  
Room Temperature ◽  
Si Substrate ◽  
Ferromagnetic Thin Films ◽  
Precipitation Reactions ◽  
Post Deposition ◽  
Xrd And Tem ◽  
Iron Palladium

ABSTRACTA combination of XRD and TEM techniques have been used to characterize the response of room temperature magnetron sputtered Fe-Pd thin films on Si-susbtrates to post-deposition order-annealing at temperatures between 400-500°C. Deposition produced the disordered Fe-Pd phase with (111)-twinned grains approximately 18nm in size. Ordering occurred for annealing at 450°C and 500°C after 1.8ks, accompanied by grain growth (40-70nm). The ordered FePd grains contained (111)-twins rather than {101}-twins typical of bulk ordered FePd. The metallic overlayers and underlayers selected here produced detrimental dissolution (Pt into Fe-Pd phases) and precipitation reactions between Pd and the Si substrate.

Effects of barrier layer and annealing on abnormal grain growth in copper thin films

1994 ◽  
Vol 76 (8) ◽  
pp. 4516-4523 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. M. Zielinski ◽  
R. P. Vinci ◽  
J. C. Bravman
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Grain Growth ◽  
Barrier Layer ◽  
Abnormal Grain Growth

scholarly journals Electrical Transport and Grain Growth in Solution-Cast, Chloride-Terminated Cadmium Selenide Nanocrystal Thin Films

ACS Nano ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 7513-7521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachariah M. Norman ◽  
Nicholas C. Anderson ◽  
Jonathan S. Owen
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Cadmium Selenide ◽  
Grain Growth ◽  
Electrical Transport ◽  
Solution Cast
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