Approaches to Study Grain Boundary Segregation

Abstract

This chapter describes main experimental methods and theoretical procedures for detecting the grain boundary segregation. Two basic classes of experimental methods are emphasised, surface analysis techniques and microscopic techniques. Numerous techniques are briefly described accompanied by examples of their application. Special attention is paid to the Auger electron spectroscopy as the most frequently used representative of the former group of techniques and the analytical transmission electron microscopy and field ion spectroscopy techniques as examples of the latter group. Theoretical calculations of the grain boundary segregation are listed ranging from the ab initio quantum mechanical methods to the molecular mechanics techniques including molecular statics and dynamics, and Monte Carlo techniques are also introduced. The information about the required interatomic potentials for these calculations is also given.