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Grain Boundary Character Distribution of Nanocrystalline Cu Thin Films Using Stereological Analysis of Transmission Electron Microscope Orientation Maps

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2013

A.D. Darbal ,
K.J. Ganesh ,
X. Liu ,
S.-B. Lee ,
J. Ledonne ,
T. Sun ,
B. Yao ,
A.P. Warren ,
G.S. Rohrer  and
A.D. Rollett
...Show all authors
A.D. Darbal
Affiliation:
Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
K.J. Ganesh
Affiliation:
Materials Science and Engineering Program, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station, Austin, TX 78712, USA
X. Liu
Affiliation:
Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
S.-B. Lee
Affiliation:
Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
J. Ledonne
Affiliation:
Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
T. Sun
Affiliation:
Materials Science and Engineering Program, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station, Austin, TX 78712, USA
B. Yao
Affiliation:
Materials Science and Engineering Program, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station, Austin, TX 78712, USA
A.P. Warren
Affiliation:
Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Boulevard, Orlando, FL 32816, USA
G.S. Rohrer
Affiliation:
Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
A.D. Rollett
Affiliation:
Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
P.J. Ferreira
Affiliation:
Materials Science and Engineering Program, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station, Austin, TX 78712, USA
K.R. Coffey
Affiliation:
Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Boulevard, Orlando, FL 32816, USA
K. Barmak*
Affiliation:
Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
*
Corresponding author. E-mail: katayun.barmak@columbia.edu
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Abstract

Stereological analysis has been coupled with transmission electron microscope (TEM) orientation mapping to investigate the grain boundary character distribution in nanocrystalline copper thin films. The use of the nanosized (<5 nm) beam in the TEM for collecting spot diffraction patterns renders an order of magnitude improvement in spatial resolution compared to the analysis of electron backscatter diffraction patterns in the scanning electron microscope. Electron beam precession is used to reduce dynamical effects and increase the reliability of orientation solutions. The misorientation distribution function shows a strong misorientation texture with a peak at 60°/[111], corresponding to the Σ3 misorientation. The grain boundary plane distribution shows {111} as the most frequently occurring plane, indicating a significant population of coherent twin boundaries. This study demonstrates the use of nanoscale orientation mapping in the TEM to quantify the five-parameter grain boundary distribution in nanocrystalline materials.

Keywords

stereologyorientation mappinggrain boundary character distributionprecession microscopy
Type
Materials Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , February 2013 , pp. 111 - 119
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2013

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Footnotes

†

A.D. Darbal, formerly at Carnegie Mellon University, is now at NanoMEGAS USA, Tempe, AZ, USA.

‡

K.J. Ganesh, formerly at the University of Texas at Austin, is now at Intel Corporation, Hilsboro, OR, USA.

#

T. Sun, formerly of the University of Central Florida, is now at Integrated System Ltd., Wanchai, Hong Kong.

§

B. Yao, formerly of the University of Central Florida, is now at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

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