A theoretical model was suggested which described the nucleation of cracks at triple junctions of grain boundaries in polysilicon materials deformed at low temperatures. In the framework of the model, cracks nucleate in the stress fields of defects located at triple junctions and formed due to intense grain boundary sliding. It was shown that the nucleation of cracks at triple junctions could occur in polysilicon in quasistatic and non-symmetric cyclic load regimes.

Generation of Cracks at Triple Junctions of Grain Boundaries in Mechanically Loaded Polysilicon. I.A.Ovidko, A.G.Sheinerman: Philosophical Magazine, 2007, 87[27], 4181-95