Papers by Author: Tadao Watanabe

Abstract: The evolution of grain boundary microstructures in gold thin films during annealing was investigated in order to find a clue to the development of high performance thin films by grain boundary engineering. The {111} oriented grains with the lowest surface energy were preferentially grown by surface energy-driven grain growth during annealing. The sharp {111} texture was developed by annealing at the temperature more than 873K. The remarkably high fraction of low-Σ coincidence site lattice (CSL) boundaries occurred when the area fraction of {111} texture increased to more than 95%. In particular, the fraction of some low-Σ CSL boundaries (Σ1,Σ3,Σ7) for the most sharply {111} textured specimen was found to be one order higher than those predicted for a random polycrystal. The utility of grain boundary engineering is discussed for controlling the performance degradation caused by the percolation phenomena of grain boundary diffusion in gold thin films.

Abstract: Bulk properties of polycrystalline structural and functional materials are controlled by the grain boundary microstructure defined by the grain boundary character distribution (GBCD) and grain boundary connectivity, because of percolation-dependent grain boundary phenomena. It has been found that there is a close relationship between microscale texture and grain boundary microstructure. Since percolation-controlled grain boundary phenomena are involved and playing key roles in the generation of various kinds of bulk properties, the relationship between texture and grain boundary microstructure can be effectively used as a powerful tool in development of high performance structural and functional materials by Grain Boundary Engineering (GBE).

Abstract: A new approach to grain boundary engineering for photovoltaic polysilicon has been attempted using a new processing method of unidirectional and rotational solidification from the melt, in order to control the grain boundary microstructure and to produce desirable bulk electrical properties. The effect of grain boundary microstructure on bulk electrical properties of polysilicon can be more precisely evaluated by introducing a new parameter “directional grain boundary density (DGBD)” in connection with basic knowledge of structure-dependent grain boundary electrical properties, the grain boundary character distribution (GBCD) and grain boundary geometrical configuration which can be experimentally determined by Orientation Imaging Microscopy (OIM). We report the usefulness of this approach to development of high performance polysilicon.

Abstract: Grain boundary engineering through the control of grain boundary character distribution (GBCD) has been extensively employed as a powerful tool for achieving enhanced properties and for development of high performance both structural and functional polycrystalline materials. Many efforts were made firstly to increase the frequency of low-energy CSL boundaries of polycrystalline materials in grain boundary engineering. However, the connectivity of grain boundaries can be an important microstructural parameter governing bulk properties of polycrystalline materials as well as the GBCD. In the present work, the connectivity of random grain boundaries was quantitatively evaluated using both the triple junction distribution and random boundary cluster length on the basis of SEM-EBSD/OIM observations, and then these evaluated parameters were linked to intergranular corrosion of SUS304 stainless steel. We have found that the length of the maximum random boundary cluster drastically decrease with increasing CSL boundaries in the fraction ranging 60 – 80% CSL boundaries, which leads to percolation threshold occurring at approximately 70±5% CSL boundary fraction (at 30±5% random boundary fraction). The experimentally observed percolation threshold is much higher than theoretically obtained one based on randomly assembled network (at 35% resistant bonds for a 2D hexagonal lattice). In addition, the fraction of resistant triple junctions is found to increase with increasing the the CSL boundary fraction. An increase in the frequency of resistant triple junctions can enhance intergranular corrosion resistance of polycrystalline austenitic stainless steel even if the GBCD is the same.

Abstract: This paper gives an overview of our recent works on the effect of magnetic annealing, i.e. annealing in a magnetic field, on the evolution of texture and grain boundary microstructure in ultra-fine grained and nanocrystalline magnetic materials differently produced; rapidly solidified Fe-6.5mass%Si ribbons, electrodeposited nanocrystalline nickel, and nanocrystalline Fe78Si9B13 alloy ribbon crystallized from the amorphous state. It was found that the effect of magnetic annealing was powerful and useful for controlling grain growth resulting in the evolution of different types of texture and grain boundary microstructure, depending on the condition of magnetic annealing. In particular, the magnetic crystallization of amorphous Fe78Si9B13 alloy was found to be powerful for producing a nanocrystalline material with a sharp texture and a special grain boundary microstructure.

Abstract: It was shown that external magnetic field of 5 kOe slows down the kinetics of grain boundary grooving in iron at 750 °C by about one order of magnitude. This observation is discussed in terms of magnetic effect in surface diffusion.

Abstract: This paper discusses micropstructural aspects of brittleness fracture of polycrystalline materials caused by intergranular fracture. Structure-dependent intergranular brittle fracture in bicrystals and polycrystals are discussed and predicted theoretically. Experimental evidence for the structure-dependent intergranular fracture is shown and some general features are discussed to demonstrate the relationship between grain boundary structure/character, grain boundary energy and intergranular fracture strength. Theoretical prediction of the fracture toughness based on the strongest-link theory is introduced for polycrystals with different grain boundary microstructures, primarily defined by the grain boundary character distribution, grain boundary connectivity. Finally recent achievements of successful control of intergranular brittleness by grain boundary engineering based on the strongest-link theory are introduced for different materials.

Abstract: The stability of the plane matching boundary is discussed in connection with the deviation from the exact plane matching orientation and the atomic density per unit area of the lattice plane. The statistic calculation of the plane matching boundary distribution in the different types and sharpness of texture revealed that the coverage by plane matching boundaries (>80%) is much higher than the coverage by CSL boundaries (~60%). The sharpness of texture strongly affects the distribution of plane matching boundaries.

Abstract: Substructure development through aging and annealing treatments was studied for rapidly solidified TiCo ribbons using TEM. In as-spun ribbons, equiaxed grain structure was developed and its crystal structure was B2-ordered immediately after melt-spinning, while a small amount of fine precipitates existed as second phase. Some grains were dislocation-free but others contained a certain amount of curved or helical dislocations and loops. The dislocation density in the ribbons annealed at 700 °C for 24 h was obviously higher than those in the as-spun ribbons and the ribbons aged at 200 °C for 100 h. The increase of the dislocation density in the annealed ribbons would result from the absorption of excess vacancies. Therefore, the obtained results indicated that a large amount of supersaturated thermal vacancies were retained in TiCo as-spun ribbons by the rapid solidification.