TEM and SEM in-situ annealing of nanocrystalline copper thin films

Materials mechanical resistance is known to depend on the size of structural features, accordingly to the familiar HallPetch equation. For the nanometer range of grain sizes, this relationship breaks down and a change of the grain size exponent is needed to satisfy this dependency. Nevertheless, the superior strength of the nanocrystalline material relays on the small dimension of its grains. Characterization of the thermal stability of these materials becomes relevant since a large fraction of atoms are in the grain boundaries and, as a result, its structure posses a large excess of energy that promotes grain growth. Grain growth in nanocrystalline metals has been observed well below the temperatures needed to promote grain growth in coarse grained materials; in some cases, even at room temperature. From this perspective, the study of grain growth in nanocrystalline metals is crucial for the development of new nanocrystalline materials with outstanding mechanical properties. There are many studies that propose models to explain the mechanism of nucleation and growth of annealing twins in F.C.C. materials. In-situ TEM and SEM techniques are invaluable for understanding and characterizing dynamic microstructural changes like nucleation and growth of grains and twins. This is an important observation because twinning affects the properties of materials and so is essential to comprehend the mechanism of twin formation. Other advantage of the in-situ TEM technique is the study of grain growth in ultra fine film with a thickness in the range of 50 to 100 nm. With these techniques, the mechanisms and kinetics of grain growth in nanocrystalline thin films can be observed and studied in real time.