Metal reference line technique for obtaining dihedral angles from surface thermal groves

Journal Article · Tue May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1990 · Journal of the American Ceramic Society; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1151-2916.1990.tb05206.x· OSTI ID:6021872

Handwerker, C A ^[1]; Dynys, J M ^[2]; Cannon, R M ^[3]; Coble, R L ^[4]

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1. National Inst. of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD (USA)
2. Alcoa, Alcoa Center, PA (US)
3. Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)
4. Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge, MA (USA). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering

A metal reference line (MRL) technique is described for the measurement of surface-grain-boundary dihedral angles, {Psi}{sub s}, from thermal grooves at a sample surface using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Metal lines deposited onto a thermally grooved surface using photolithography conform to the contours of the grain-boundary groove and provide a high-contrast reference line for measuring {Psi}{sub s} by SEM. Measurements of {Psi}{sub s} from optical interferometry and calculated from groove dimensions using surface diffusion models of thermal grooving are compared with the metal reference line measurements from the same thermally grooved surface of MgO-doped Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}. Distributions of {Psi}{sub s} are found to shift to lower angles and approach the true {Psi}{sub s} value as the resolution of the technique increases, with the MRL technique having the highest resolution, a median angle of 113{degrees} {plus minus} 1{degree} and a distribution of angles from 90{degrees} {plus minus} 5{degrees} to 139{degrees} {plus minus} 3{degrees}.

• OSTI ID: 6021872
• Journal Information: Journal of the American Ceramic Society; (USA), Vol. 73:5; ISSN 0002-7820
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ALUMINIUM OXIDES
GRAIN BOUNDARIES
CRYSTAL DOPING
DIFFUSION
ETCHING
INTERFEROMETRY
MAGNESIUM OXIDES
PHOTOCHEMISTRY
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMISTRY
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
MAGNESIUM COMPOUNDS
MICROSCOPY
MICROSTRUCTURE
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
SURFACE FINISHING
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