Triple Junctions as Dislocation-Like Defects: The Role of Grain Boundary Crystallography Revealed by Experiment and Atomistic Simulation

Abstract

Grain boundary networks and their evolution are strongly influenced by triple junctions. The defect nature of these line defects significantly affects the network's properties, but they have not been fully characterized to date. Here, we use scanning transmission electron microscopy combined with atomistic computer simulations to investigate a triple junction at the atomic scale in an Al thin film with (Formula presented.) texture. Using sampling methods, we were able to construct a computer model of the same junction as in the experiment. We present a technique to calculate the Burgers vector of the triple junction. This allows us to connect the junction's dislocation character to the microscopic degrees of freedom of the joining grain boundaries. The junction line energy can then be calculated using an embedded atom method potential. It follows the same laws as bulk dislocations. Finally, we discovered a range of possible triple junctions for the observed grain boundaries, which vary in the magnitude of their Burgers vector. Interestingly, the experimentally observed junction does not have the smallest possible Burgers vector and energy. This suggests that the kinetics of transforming the junction line are likely too slow to be driven by the small energy contribution of the triple junction.