Probing defect relaxation in ultra-fine grained Ta using micromechanical spectroscopy

The study of grain boundaries (GBs) in polycrystalline materials is a field of major interest, as many fundamental properties are influenced by their actual structure. One of the main challenges in investigating GBs is that electron microscopy techniques capable to resolve their atomistic arrangement require very small sample volumes of a few tens of nanometers and might therefore change the natural state of the GB via removal of occurring material constraint. To counteract this influence one could apply indirect measurements such as internal friction to probe for changes of the GB structure. However, with the drive towards smaller volumes most of these techniques are at their limit. The current work proposes a new approach based on mechanical spectroscopy of micron sized specimens applied in-situ in a scanning electron microscope. Applying this novel concept to ultra-fine grained Ta we investigate changes in the defect structure between the as-deformed condition and after a heat treatment. In fact, we detect a decrease in internal friction of about 50% upon annealing. This pronounced change occurs in conjunction with an increase in flow stress and hardness and is related to thermally induced GB relaxation.