The Evolution of Growth, Crystal Orientation, and Grain Boundaries Disorientation Distribution in Gold Thin Films

Abstract

Herein, the growth and annealing effect of gold thin films are systematically studied by using an automated crystal orientation mapping (ACOM-TEM) technique. The crystallographic redistribution and structural changes in grain and boundaries due to recrystallization and grain kinetic processes are followed and described. The as-grown films show a dominant <111> texture followed by <110>, <100>, <112>, <102>, and <212> orientations; having a noticeable reorientation of the grains after annealing along the <111> direction parallel to the electron beam, as well as the expected grain size enlargement. Moreover, the random high angle grain boundaries observed in as-grown film transform towards low coincidence site lattice (CSL) boundaries after annealing. The consequences of recrystallization and grain kinetic processes, primarily grain rotation and coupled grain boundary migration on the evolution of the film structural properties are discussed based on the experimental results.

A Direct Observation of Ordered Structures Induced by Cu Segregation at Grain Boundaries of Al 7075 Alloys

“…Based on numerous theoretical and experimental studies on CSL boundary energies, this occurrence of low CSL boundaries is inferred as a result of following a trend of grain boundary energy minimization. The results of the current study, strong <111> texture, and abundance CSL boundaries are consistent with the previous report in which the texture and GB disorientation distribution of vacuum deposited gold thin films were analyzed in detail …”

“…The results of the current study, strong <111> texture, and abundance CSL boundaries are consistent with the previous report in which the texture and GB disorientation distribution of vacuum deposited gold thin films were analyzed in detail. [48] status solidi physica a www.advancedsciencenews.com www.pss-a.com Figure 2 shows a low-magnification TEM image of a large area of the sample with its corresponding EDS analysis. The spectrum (Figure 2(b)) shows a large signal of Al, followed by the signal of Cu and Mg (left bump on Al peak), and a minor contribution of Si and Zn.…”

High‐Throughput Growth of Microscale Gold Bicrystals for Single‐Grain‐Boundary Studies

“…For example, annealing experiments of fcc metal foils demonstrate that the growth rates of {111}<112> grains dominate . Similarly, annealed polycrystalline gold thin films exhibit preferential growth of {111}<112> and {111}<110> grains . In applying these trends to our bicrystals, one would expect certain grain orientations to grow faster than others, resulting in grain boundary positions far from the middle of the stripe.…”

“…The appearance of a full range of <111> tilt misorientation angles in our system is quantitatively different from the grain boundary angle distributions in annealed polycrystalline fcc thin‐film samples. In polycrystalline fcc systems, large angle grain boundaries typically transform into energetically preferred coincidence site lattice (CSL) boundaries during annealing, specifically the Σ7 (38˚) and Σ3 (60˚) boundaries that contain a high density of coinciding lattice points . As such, our bicrystal preparation method is particularly well suited for the realization and study of all grain boundary angles that can exist in vapor‐deposited (111)‐textured fcc films.…”

Misorientation dependence grain boundary complexions in <111> symmetric tilt Al grain boundaries

“…The Al alloy 7075 films examined in this study were grown by a physical vapor deposition technique [21,31,32]. Small pieces of a commercially available Al Alloy 7075 foil (chemical composition: Al 90%, Zn 5.5%, Mg 2.5%, Cu 1.5%, and Si 0.5%) were thermally evaporated and deposited on freshly cleaved commercial (100) NaCl crystals in high vacuum (10 À5 torr).…”