Kinetics of grain boundary migration in dilute CuSi bicrystals

Abstract

Kinetics of grain boundary migration in dilute copper-silicon bicrystals have been investigated by the reversed-capillary technique at temperatures and silicon solute additions ranging from 275–400°C and 50–680 ppm, respectively. Grain boundary displacements increase with increasing time and temperature and are characterized by an apparent activation energy, which increases from 27 to 35 kCal/mole with increasing silicon content. Results are in excellent quantitative agreement with theories of grain boundary migration and indicate that the controlling mechanism is thermally activated transport of silicon across the moving boundary.