Work Softening And Annealing Hardening Of Deformed Nanocrystalline Nickel

We reported that work softening takes place during room-temperature rolling of nanocrystalline Ni at an equivalent strain of around 0.30. The work softening corresponds to a strain-induced phase transformation from a face-centered cubic (fcc) to a body-centered cubic (bcc) lattice. The hardness decreases with increasing volume fraction of the bcc phase. When the deformed samples are annealed at 423 K, a hardening of the samples takes place. This hardening by annealing can be attributed to a variety of factors including the recovery transformation from the bcc to the fcc phase, grain boundary relaxation, and retardation of dislocation gliding by microtwins.

Deformation Twin Formed By Self-Thickening, Cross-Slip Mechanism In Nanocrystalline Ni

We report the observation of a deformation twin formed by a recently proposed self-thickening, cross-slip twinning mechanism. This observation verifies one more twinning mechanism, in addition to those reported before, in nanocrystalline face-centered-cubic metals. In this mechanism, once the first Shockley partial is emitted from a grain boundary, and cross slips onto another slip plane, a deformation twin could nucleate and grow in both the primary and cross-slip planes without requiring the nucleation of additional Shockley partials from the grain boundary.

Micromechanics Modeling Of Strength For Nanocrystalline Copper

We present a model in this paper for predicting the inverse Hall-Petch phenomenon in nanocrystalline (NC) materials which are assumed to consist of two phases: grain phase of spherical or spheroidal shapes and grain boundary phase. The deformation of the grain phase has an elasto-viscoplastic behavior, which includes dislocation glide mechanism, Coble creep and Nabarro-Herring creep. However the deformation of grain boundary phase is assumed to be the mechanism of grain boundary diffusion. A Hill self-consistent method is used to describe the behavior of nanocrystalline pure copper subjected to uniaxial tension. Finally, the effects of grain size and its distribution, grain shape and strain rate on the yield strength and stress-strain curve of the pure copper are investigated. The obtained results are compared with relevant experimental data in the literature.

Investigation on mechanical properties and size effect of nanocrystalline twin copper

The stress-strain relations of nanocrystalline twin copper with variously sized grains and twins are studied by using FEM simulations based on the conventional theory of mechanism-based strain gradient plasticity (CMSG). A model of twin lamellae strengthening zone is proposed and a cohesive interface model is used to simulate grain-boundary sliding and separation. Effects of material parameters on stress-strain curves of polycrystalline twin copper are studied in detail. Furthermore, the effects of both twin lamellar spacing and twin lamellar distribution on the stress-strain relations are investigated under tension loading. The numerical simulations show that both the strain gradient effect and the material hardening increase with decreasing the grain size and twin lamellar spacing. The distribution of twin lamellae has a significant influence on the overall mechanical properties, and the effect is reduced as both the grain size and twin lamellar spacing decrease. Finally, the FEM prediction results are compared with the experimental data.

Atomistic simulations of crack nucleation and intergranular fracture in bulk nanocrystalline nickel

We report large scale molecular dynamics simulations of dynamic cyclic uniaxial tensile deformation of pure, fully dense nanocrystalline Ni, to reveal the crack initiation, and consequently intergranular fracture is the result of coalescence of nanovoids by breaking atomic bonds at grain boundaries and triple junctions. The results indicate that the brittle fracture behavior accounts for the transition from plastic deformation governed by dislocation to one that is grain-boundary dominant when the grain size reduces to the nanoscale. The grain-boundary mediated plasticity is also manifested by the new grain formation and growth induced by stress-assisted grain-boundary diffusion observed in this work. This work illustrates that grain-boundary decohesion is one of the fundamental deformation mechanisms in nanocrystalline Ni.

Experimental and theoretical study on numerical density evolution of short fatigue cracks

Fatigue testing was performed using a kind of triangular shaped specimen to obtain the characteristics of numerical density evolution for short cracks at the primary stage of fatigue damage. The material concerned is a structural alloy steel. The experimental results show that the numerical density of short cracks reaches the maximum value when crack length is slightly less than the average grain diameter, indicating grain boundary is the main barrier for short crack extension. Based on the experimental observations and related theory, the expressions for growth velocity and nucleation rate of short cracks have been proposed. With the solution to phase space conservation equation, the theoretical results of numerical density evolution for short cracks were obtained, which were in agreement with our experimental measurements.

双晶晶界在高温下的热稳定性的分子动力学研究

晶界结构在高温下的热稳定性问题是一个长期争论而又未能解决的问题，其争论的焦点是：在远低于熔点的温度下，晶界结构是否发生了可观察到的无序化，即是否存在一个远低于熔点的结构转化温度。为了能澄清这一争论，本文系统地研究了晶界结构的热稳定性。为了消除相互作用势的影响和系统误差，本文首先采用Morse势和经验多体势分别对铝、铜单晶的熔化过程进行了分子动力学模拟。在平衡态下，通过计算表征结构无序化的静态结构因子、径向分布函数和单晶原子位形图，获得了铝、铜单晶的熔点，结果表明：多体势计算的铝和铜的单晶熔点更接近实验值。因此，采用经验多体势应用分子动力学方法分别模拟了铝、铜Σ3、Σ5、Σ9、Σ11、Σ19、Σ33六种对称倾侧双晶晶界晶界结构由有序向无序转化的过程，计算了平衡态下的表征结构无序化的静态结构因子、径向分布函数和晶界原子位形图并将多体势获得的铝、铜单晶熔点作为晶界结构转化温度的约化熔点，获得了铝、铜Σ3、Σ5、Σ9、Σ11、Σ19、Σ33六种对称倾侧双晶晶界结构的转化温度和熔点，结果表明：1．Σ5、Σ9、Σ11、Σ19、Σ33五种对称倾侧双晶晶界均在远低于单晶熔点温度时，晶界结构发生了可观察到的无序化，而且双晶晶界结构的转变温度相差不大，双晶晶界熔点也低于单晶熔点。2．Σ3晶界在温度远低于熔点时，其晶界结构没有发生可观察到的无序化；Σ3晶界的转化温度与单晶熔点接近。所以，可以认为Σ3晶界不存在转化温度。这是由于Σ3晶界为共格孪晶，具有较低的能量。综上所述，除Σ3共格孪晶外，在远低于熔点温度下，晶界结构发生了可观察到的无序化，即：存在一个远低于熔点的转化温度，此时其静态结构因子约为0.5左右；晶界结构的熔点均低于单晶熔点，此时其静态结构因子约为0.15左右。从全文模拟结果可以看出，静态结构因子、径向分布函数、晶界原子位形图三种方法在确定晶界的结构转化温度和熔点时，静态结构因子是最有效、最准确的定量方法。

Plastic Deformation Of Nanocrystalline Nickel

A high-resolution electron microscopy study has uncovered the plastic behavior of accommodating large strains in nanocrystalline (NC) Ni subject to cold rolling at liquid nitrogen temperature. The activation of grain-boundary-mediated-plasticity is evidenced in NC-Ni, including twinning and formation of stacking fault via partial dislocation slips from the grain boundary. The formation and storage of 60A degrees full dislocations are observed inside NC-grains. The grain/twin boundaries act as the barriers of dislocation slips, leading to dislocation pile-up, severe lattice distortion, and formation of sub-grain boundary. The vicinity of grain/twin boundary is where defects preferentially accumulate and likely the favorable place for onset of plastic deformation. The present results indicate the heterogeneous and multiple natures of accommodating plastic strains in NC-grains.

Growth of deformation twins in room-temperature rolled nanocrystalline nickel

Deformation twinning has been observed in room-temperature rolled nanocrystalline Ni. The growth of the deformation twins via the emission of partial dislocations from a grain boundary has been examined in detail. Partial dislocations on neighboring slip planes may migrate for different distances and then remain in the grain interior, leading to the formation of a steplike twin boundary TB . With continued twin growth, the TBs become gradually distorted and lose their coherent character due to accumulated high stresses. Moreover, we propose that microtwins may form near such TBs due to the emission of partial dislocations from the TB.

Nd：YAG透明陶瓷的烧成及其显微结构

由溶胶一凝胶／燃烧合成结合法合成了Nd：YAG(掺钕钇铝石榴石，neodymium—doped yttrium aluminium garnet)粉体，用真空烧结法制备了Nd：YAG透明陶瓷。研究了显微结构随烧结温度和保温时间的变化，并对透明陶瓷的晶界结构和成分分布进行了表征。随着烧结温度的提高和保温时间的延长，Nd：YAG陶瓷的密度增大，晶形发育完整，透过率提高。晶粒内部和晶界的化学组成基本相同。所制备的Nd：YAG透明陶瓷在激光工作波长1064nm的透过率达到75％。

ScAlMgO_4晶体的生长缺陷

采用提拉法生长出φ30 mm×55 mm的ScAlMgO4晶体。在晶体生长过程中有轻微的挥发,粉末X射线衍射分析表明:挥发物质为MgO单相。运用扫描电镜、光学显微镜以及高分辨X射线衍射仪对晶体中的包裹物、开裂、生长条纹和小角晶界缺陷进行了研究。结果表明:温度梯度和热应力是形成晶体中缺陷的主要原因。通过合理设计温场,控制固-液界面的形状及冷却过程的降温速率,可以提高晶体的完整性。

铝酸钇晶体中的生长小面

采用提拉法生长了掺Ce、掺Yb和掺Mn的铝酸钇(YAlO3,YAP)晶体,晶体均完整透明,无肉眼可见的气泡、散射和包裹物等宏观缺陷。通过化学腐蚀和同步辐射白光形貌实验检测了YAP晶体中的生长小面缺陷。结果表明:晶体生长过程中,由于凸向熔体的固-液界面,造成了小面生长现象。沿[101]方向生长的YAP晶体中出现的小面为(102),(201),(121)和(121)奇异面。X射线摇摆曲线表征的结果表明:生长小面的存在严重破坏了晶体的微观结构完整性和均匀性,并导致了小角度晶界缺陷的产生。

Low temperature annealing effects on the structure and optical properties of ZnO films grown by pulsed laser deposition

ZnO thin films were deposited on glass substrates at room temperature (RT) similar to 500 degrees C by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique and then were annealed at 150-450 degrees C in air. The effects of annealing temperature on the microstructure and optical properties of the thin films deposited at each substrate temperature were investigated by XRD, SEM, transmittance spectra, and photoluminescence (PL). The results showed that the c-axis orientation of ZnO thin films was not destroyed by annealing treatments: the grain size increased and stress relaxed for the films deposited at 200-500 degrees C, and thin films densified for the films deposited at RT with increasing annealing temperature. The transmittance spectra indicated that E-g of thin films showed a decreased trend with annealing temperature. From the PL measurements, there was a general trend, that is UV emission enhanced with lower annealing temperature and disappeared at higher annealing temperature for the films deposited at 200-500 degrees C; no UV emission was observed for the films deposited at RT regardless of annealing treatment. Improvement of grain size and stoichiometric ratio with annealing temperature can be attributed to the enhancement of UV emission, but the adsorbed oxygen species on the surface and grain boundary of films are thought to contribute the annihilation of UV emission. It seems that annealing at lower temperature in air is an effective method to improve the UV emission for thin films deposited on glass substrate at substrate temperature above RT.

Investigation of native defects and property of bulk ZnO single crystal grown by a closed chemical vapor transport method

Hall effect, Raman scattering, photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL), optical absorption (OA), mass spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction have been used to study bulk ZnO single crystal grown by a closed chemical vapor transport method. The results indicate that shallow donor impurities (Ga and Al) are the dominant native defects responsible for n-type conduction of the ZnO single crystal. PL and OA results suggest that the as-grown and annealed ZnO samples with poor lattice perfection exhibit strong deep level green photoluminescence and weak ultraviolet luminescence. The deep level defect in as-grown ZnO is identified to be oxygen vacancy. After high-temperature annealing, the deep level photoluminescence is suppressed in ZnO crystal with good lattice perfection. In contrast, the photoluminescence is nearly unchanged or even enhanced in ZnO crystal with grain boundary or mosaic structure. This result indicates that a trapping effect of the defect exists at the grain boundary in ZnO single crystal. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gap states and microstructure of microcrystalline silicon thin films

The density of states (DOS) above Fermi level of hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (mu c-Si H) films is correlated to the material microstructure. We use Raman scattering and infrared absorption spectra to characterize the structure of the films made with different hydrogen dilution ratios. The DOS of the films is examined by modulated photocurrent measurement. The results have been accounted for in the framework of a three-phase model comprised of amorphous and crystalline components, with the grain boundary as the third phase. We observed that the DOS increases monotonically as the grain boundary volume fractions f(gb) is increased, which indicates a positive correlation between the DOS and the grain boundary volume fraction.