Analysis of the grain boundary misorientation distribution in polycrystalline gold thin films using minimal data

Journal Article · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2000 · Scripta Materialia

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-6462(99)00351-6· OSTI ID:20013345

Owusu-Boahen, K; King, A H

Grain boundary misorientation distributions and their related character distributions (in terms of the coincidence site lattice) have been shown to influence various properties of polycrystalline metals. Materials with high proportions of {Sigma} and {Sigma}3 boundaries exhibit improved resistance to various kinds of intergranular degradation. Most studies of grain boundary distribution, therefore, look at the number- or area-fractions of the various coincidence-related boundaries in what is called the grain boundary character distribution. An important question for experimentalists in this field is whether the number of grain boundaries used in an analysis is sufficient to represent the distribution accurately. The problem is significantly ameliorated when automated data collection can be used, allowing huge data sets to be accumulated, but this is not always possible, either because the necessary equipment is not available, or because the specimens do not lend themselves to the available techniques. In this work, the authors use an investigation of the misorientation distribution in a polycrystalline gold thin film to illustrate how useful conclusions may be drawn from minimal numbers of observations.

• Research Organization: State Univ. of New York, Stony Brook, NY (US)
• OSTI ID: 20013345
• Journal Information: Scripta Materialia, Journal Name: Scripta Materialia Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 42; ISSN 1359-6462; ISSN SCMAF7
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
GOLD
GRAIN BOUNDARIES
GRAIN ORIENTATION
POLYCRYSTALS
THIN FILMS