Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 026101 (2003) [4 pages]Grains, Growth, and GroovingReceived 7 November 2002; published 7 July 2003 We report the in situ investigation of grain growth and grain boundary migration, performed with a variable-temperature scanning tunneling microscope (STM) on a polycrystalline gold film. Atomic step resolution allowed us to identify the individual grains and, thus, also the grain boundaries. Our special, thermal-drift-compensated STM design made it possible to follow the same sample area over large temperature intervals. In this way, we have directly observed grain boundary migration and grain growth. In a first quantitative analysis we correlate the observed, unexpected changes in surface roughness with the evolution of the grain and grain boundary configuration. © 2003 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.026101
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.026101
PACS:
68.55.–a, 61.72.Mm, 68.35.Ct, 68.37.Ef
|
|
About | Terms and Conditions | Subscriptions | Search | Help
Use of the American Physical Society websites and journals implies that the user has read and agrees to our Terms and Conditions and any applicable Subscription Agreement. Physical Review®, Physical Review Letters®, Reviews of Modern Physics®, and Physical Review Special Topics® are trademarks of the American Physical Society.