X-Ray Diffraction Analysis and Modeling of Strain Induced Thermal Cycling in a Thin Aluminum (011) Bicrystal Film

Abstract

Heteroepitaxial films of aluminum bicrystals grown on silicon provide a model system in which to study plasticity in polycrystalline metal thin films. For the bicrystal films, dislocations are confined to move on two different slip plane orientations because of the orientation of the crystals on the substrate. In-situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations during thermal cycling have shown two threshold temperatures for dislocation motion on cooling. A simple model uses the resolved shear stress on the possible slip planes to explain the TEM observations. Mechanisms responsible for the dislocation behavior are studied in-situ during thermal cycling between room temperature and 450°C with x-ray diffraction. The strains are determined using a sin²(Ψ) analysis at each temperature. Direct comparisons are made between the TEM observations, the model and x-ray diffraction results.