Texture-directed twin formation propensity in Al with high stacking fault energy

Abstract

Twin boundaries can enhance the strength and preserve the ductility of a variety of metallic materials with face centered cubic structures. However, twin boundaries are rare in aluminum due to its high stacking fault energy. There are limited successes for the formation of nanotwins in Al. Here, we show that twin morphology and twin density in Al can be altered by tailoring the textures of films. Transmission Kikuchi diffraction and transmission electron microscopy studies on (111), (110) and (112) textured Al films indicate that Al (112) film has the highest twin density. Two design criteria are identified for the introduction of a high density of growth twins into Al.