Reversal in the Size Dependence of Grain Rotation

Disconnection flow-mediated grain rotation

Grain rotation is commonly observed during the evolution of microstructures in polycrystalline materials of different kinds, including metals, ceramics, and colloidal crystals. It is widely accepted that interface migration in these systems is mediated by the motion of line defects with step and dislocation character, i.e., disconnections. We propose a crystallography-respecting continuum model for arbitrarily curved grain boundaries or heterophase interfaces, accounting for the disconnections' role in grain rotation. Numerical simulations demonstrate that changes in grain orientations, as well as interface morphology and internal stress field, are associated with disconnection flow. Our predictions agree with molecular dynamics simulation results for pure capillarity-driven evolution of grain boundaries and are interpreted through an extended Cahn-Taylor model.

The Role of Grain Boundary Diffusion in the Solute Drag Effect

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are applied to study solute drag by curvature-driven grain boundaries (GBs) in Cu–Ag solid solution. Although lattice diffusion is frozen on the MD timescale, the GB significantly accelerates the solute diffusion and alters the state of short-range order in lattice regions swept by its motion. The accelerated diffusion produces a nonuniform redistribution of the solute atoms in the form of GB clusters enhancing the solute drag by the Zener pinning mechanism. This finding points to an important role of lateral GB diffusion in the solute drag effect. A 1.5 at.%Ag alloying reduces the GB free energy by 10–20% while reducing the GB mobility coefficients by more than an order of magnitude. Given the greater impact of alloying on the GB mobility than on the capillary driving force, kinetic stabilization of nanomaterials against grain growth is likely to be more effective than thermodynamic stabilization aiming to reduce the GB free energy.

Revealing the unusual grain growth of nanoparticles in calcination: oriented attachment in the solid state

The grain size doubling of nickel nanocrystals in calcination reveals that oriented attachment (OA), which generally involves the use of a liquid medium, can occur in solid state as well and dominate the nano-grain coarsening.

Exploring nanomechanics with high-pressure techniques

For around three decades, high-pressure techniques have been used to study nanomaterials. In most studies, especially the early ones, x-ray diffraction and Raman and infrared spectroscopy were used to investigate the structural transition and equation of state. In recent years, the exploration has been extended to the plastic deformation of nanomaterials by using radial diamond-anvil-cell x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Compared with the traditional techniques, high-pressure techniques are more advantageous in applying mechanical loads to nanosized samples and characterizing the structural and mechanical properties either in situ or ex situ, which could help to unveil the mysteries of mechanics at the nanoscale. With such knowledge, more-advanced materials could be fabricated for wider and specialized applications. This paper provides a brief review of recent progress.

Quantized Grain Boundary States Promote Nanoparticle Alignment During Imperfect Oriented Attachment

Oriented attachment (OA) has become a well-recognized mechanism for the growth of metal, ceramic, and biomineral crystals. While many computational and experimental studies of OA have shown that particles can attach with some misorientation then rotate to remove adjoining grain boundaries, the underlying atomistic pathways for this "imperfect OA" process remain the subject of debate. In this study, molecular dynamics and in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are used to probe the crystallographic evolution of up to 30 gold nanoparticles during aggregation. It is found that Imperfect OA occurs because 1) grain boundaries become quantized when their size is comparable to the separation between constituent dislocations and 2) kinetic barriers associated with the glide of grain boundary dislocations are small. In support of these findings, TEM experiments show the formation of a single crystal aggregate after annealing nine initially misoriented, agglomerated particles with evidence of dislocation activity and twin formation during particle/grain alignment. These observations motivate future work on assembled nanocrystals with tailored defects and call for a revision of Read-Shockley models for grain boundary energies in nanocrystalline materials.

Synthesis and High-Pressure Mechanical Properties of Superhard Rhenium/Tungsten Diboride Nanocrystals

Rhenium diboride is an established superhard compound that can scratch diamond and can be readily synthesized under ambient pressure. Here, we demonstrate two synergistic ways to further enhance the already high yield strength of ReB₂. The first approach builds on previous reports where tungsten is doped into ReB₂ at concentrations up to 48 at. %, forming a rhenium/tungsten diboride solid solution (Re_0.52W_0.48B₂). In the second approach, the composition of both materials is maintained, but the particle size is reduced to the nanoscale (40-150 nm). Bulk samples were synthesized by arc melting above 2500 °C, and salt flux growth at ∼850 °C was used to create nanoscale materials. In situ radial X-ray diffraction was then performed under high pressures up to ∼60 GPa in a diamond anvil cell to study mechanical properties including bulk modulus, lattice strain, and strength anisotropy. The differential stress for both Re_0.52W_0.48B₂ and nano ReB₂ (n-ReB₂) was increased compared to bulk ReB₂. In addition, the lattice-preferred orientation of n-ReB₂ was experimentally measured. Under non-hydrostatic compression, n-ReB₂ exhibits texture characterized by a maximum along the [001] direction, confirming that plastic deformation is primarily controlled by the basal slip system. At higher pressures, a range of other slip systems become active. Finally, both size and solid-solution effects were combined in nanoscale Re_0.52W_0.48B₂. This material showed the highest differential stress and bulk modulus, combined with suppression of the new slip planes that opened at high pressure in n-ReB₂.

Grain Rotation in Plastic Deformation

The plastic deformation behaviors of crystalline materials are usually determined by lattice dislocations. However, below a certain particle or grain size, focus is placed on the grain-boundary-mediated mechanisms (e.g., grain rotation, grain boundary sliding, and diffusion), which has been observed during recrystallization, grain growth, and plastic deformation. However, the underlying mechanisms of grain rotation remain to be studied. In this article, we review the theoretical models, molecular dynamics simulations, and experimental investigations on grain rotation. Especially, the development of in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray characterization methods for probing grain boundary processes during plastic deformation provides a better understanding of the mechanisms of grain rotation. Moreover, the ability to acquire high-quality X-ray diffraction patterns from individual nanograins is expected to find broad applications in various fields such as physics, chemistry, materials science, physics, and nanoscience.

Size Dependence of Grain Boundary Migration in Metals under Mechanical Loading

The greatly increased grain boundary (GB) mobility in nanograined metals under mechanical loading is distinguished from that in their coarse-grained counterparts. The feature leads to softening of nanograined materials and deviation of strength from the classical Hall-Petch relationship. In this Letter, grain size dependences of GB migration in nanograined Ag, Cu, and Ni under tension were investigated quantitatively in a wide size range. As grain size decreases from submicron, GB migration intensifies and then diminishes below a critical grain size. The GB migration peaks at about 80, 75, and 38 nm in Ag, Cu, and Ni, respectively. The suppression of GB migration below a critical size can be attributed to GB relaxation during sample processing or by postthermal annealing. With relaxed GBs the governing deformation mechanism of nanograins shifts from GB migration to formation of through-grain twins or stacking faults. GB relaxation, analogous to GB segregation, offers a novel approach to stabilizing nanograined materials under mechanical loading.

Synchrotron X-ray Microdiffraction and Fluorescence Imaging of Mineral and Rock Samples

In this report, we describe a detailed procedure for acquiring and processing x-ray microfluorescence (μXRF), and Laue and powder microdiffraction two-dimensional (2D) maps at beamline 12.3.2 of the Advanced Light Source (ALS), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Measurements can be performed on any sample that is less than 10 cm x 10 cm x 5 cm, with a flat exposed surface. The experimental geometry is calibrated using standard materials (elemental standards for XRF, and crystalline samples such as Si, quartz, or Al2O3 for diffraction). Samples are aligned to the focal point of the x-ray microbeam, and raster scans are performed, where each pixel of a map corresponds to one measurement, e.g., one XRF spectrum or one diffraction pattern. The data are then processed using the in-house developed software XMAS, which outputs text files, where each row corresponds to a pixel position. Representative data from moissanite and an olive snail shell are presented to demonstrate data quality, collection, and analysis strategies.

Size-Dependent Grain-Boundary Structure with Improved Conductive and Mechanical Stabilities in Sub-10-nm Gold Crystals

Low-angle grain boundaries generally exist in the form of dislocation arrays, while high-angle grain boundaries (misorientation angle >15°) exist in the form of structural units in bulk metals. Here, through in situ atomic resolution aberration corrected electron microscopy observations, we report size-dependent grain-boundary structures improving both stabilities of electrical conductivity and mechanical properties in sub-10-nm-sized gold crystals. With the diameter of a nanocrystal decreasing below 10 nm, the high-angle grain boundary in the crystal exists as an array of dislocations. This size effect may be of importance to a new generation of interconnects applications.