Faceting diagram for Ag segregation induced nanofaceting at an asymmetric Cu tilt grain boundary

Abstract

In this work, we experimentally establish the isothermal nanofacet evolution at an asymmetric ∑5 tilt grain boundary in the Cu-Ag system using a diffusion couple approach. We investigate the nanofacet formation along the grain boundary in dependence of the Ag solute excess concentration. The initial grain boundary dissociates into asymmetric Ag-lean segments and Ag-rich symmetric (210) segments. Increasing Ag excess leads to an increase in Ag-rich facet segment length, while the length of the asymmetric facets remains constant. From this, we construct a grain boundary nanofaceting diagram deduced from our experiments relating local atomic structure, overall inclination and Ag solute excess.