A stochastic theory of grain growth

Abstract

A stochastic theory of normal grain growth is proposed. The model is based on the concept that the migration of kinks and ledges should cause a Brownian motion of the grain boundary. This motion results in a drift of the grain size distribution to larger sizes. The kinetics of grain growth is thus related to the kinetics of kinks and ledges; specifically, via the rates of nucleation, recombination and sink annihilation. A variety of growth exponents are obtained from a scaling analysis, but only one universal grain size distribution is applicable in all cases. The specific predictions of this model are in total agreement with the recent computer simulations of domain growth, and are consistent with experimental observations of normal grain growth.