The penetration of Zn along the 38 <001> tilt boundary of a bicrystal was studied at temperatures ranging from 700 to 900C. A new method was used to determine the concentration dependence of the product of the segregation factor, grain boundary width and grain boundary diffusivity. A very small activation energy was predicted for Zn concentrations which were close to the solidus/solvus line in the bulk phase diagram. It was proposed that the grain boundary was in a quasi-liquid pre-melting state. A simple thermodynamic model for the segregation factor was developed, and the boundary thickness was estimated to be about 2nm.

E.Rabkin, B.Straumal, W.Gust: Zeitschrift für Metallkunde, 1996, 87[12], 948-52