Interplay between grain boundary segregation and electrical resistivity in dilute nanocrystalline Cu alloys. (October 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kim, Gyuseok; Chai, Xuzhao; Yu, Le; Cheng, Xuemei; Gianola, Daniel S.
• Is Part Of: Scripta materialia. Volume 123(2016)
• Page Start: 113
• Page End: 117
• Publication Date: 2016-10
• Subjects: Materials -- Periodicals; Metallurgy -- Periodicals; Metalen; Legeringen; Materiaalkunde; Metals, metalworking and machinery industries; Metals; Electronic journals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2016.06.008
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1359-6462

Abstract

Abstract: The relationships between microstructure, controlled by alloying elements prone to grain boundary segregation, and electrical resistivity in sputtered nanocrystalline Cu were investigated. We find a non-monotonic dependence of the mean grain size on solute concentration for both Cu-Nb and Cu-Fe dilute alloys, with a concentration regime where the grain size increases over that of pure Cu before refining with further alloying. The electrical resistivity follows the same trend, suggesting a non-equilibrium processing route that remarkably gives rise to dilute nanocrystalline Cu alloys with lower resistivity, thermal stability, and enhanced mechanical properties relative to their pure nanocrystalline counterpart. Graphical abstract: