A theoretical model was developed for treating the migration of extended defects in the presence of diffusing impurities, under conditions where impurity drag was appreciable. The predicted boundary velocities versus driving force were in good agreement with kinetic Monte Carlo simulations which were based upon an Ising model. For low temperatures, and/or for sufficiently high bulk concentrations, the kink model predicted that the boundary mobility was independent of the bulk concentration. The activation energy for boundary migration was shown to depend upon the formation energy of kinks on the boundary, the heat of segregation and the activation energy for bulk diffusion. A dependence upon the kink formation energy persisted even in the limit of high impurity drag.

Kink Model for Extended Defect Migration in the Presence of Diffusing Impurities - Theory and Simulation. M.I.Mendelev, D.J.Srolovitz: Acta Materialia, 2001, 49[14], 2843-52