Interfacial Dislocations (interfacial + dislocation)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Microstructure-Lattice Thermal Conductivity Correlation in Nanostructured PbTe0.7S0.3 Thermoelectric Materials

ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 5 2010
Jiaqing He
Abstract The reduction of thermal conductivity, and a comprehensive understanding of the microstructural constituents that cause this reduction, represent some of the important challenges for the further development of thermoelectric materials with improved figure of merit. Model PbTe-based thermoelectric materials that exhibit very low lattice thermal conductivity have been chosen for this microstructure,thermal conductivity correlation study. The nominal PbTe0.7S0.3 composition spinodally decomposes into two phases: PbTe and PbS. Orderly misfit dislocations, incomplete relaxed strain, and structure-modulated contrast rather than composition-modulated contrast are observed at the boundaries between the two phases. Furthermore, the samples also contain regularly shaped nanometer-scale precipitates. The theoretical calculations of the lattice thermal conductivity of the PbTe0.7S0.3 material, based on transmission electron microscopy observations, closely aligns with experimental measurements of the thermal conductivity of a very low value, ,0.8,W,m,1,K,1 at room temperature, approximately 35% and 30% of the value of the lattice thermal conductivity of either PbTe and PbS, respectively. It is shown that phase boundaries, interfacial dislocations, and nanometer-scale precipitates play an important role in enhancing phonon scattering and, therefore, in reducing the lattice thermal conductivity. [source]


Spatially Resolved Mapping of Polarization Switching Behavior in Nanoscale Ferroelectrics,

ADVANCED MATERIALS, Issue 1 2008
J. Rodriguez
The spatial variability of polarization switching in ferroelectric lead zirconate-titanate nanoparticle arrays and within a single sub-100 nanometer nanoparticle is investigated by using switching spectroscopy piezoresponse force microscopy. Strong variations of switching properties within a single nanoparticle are observed and attributed to polarization pinning by geometric effects and interfacial dislocations. The spatial distributions of imprint bias and the thickness of the frozen polarization layer within the nanoparticle are reconstructed. [source]


SEM investigation of interfacial dislocations in nickel-base superalloys

JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPY, Issue 2 2007
ALEXANDER EPISHIN
Summary A new technique for investigation of interfacial dislocations in nickel-base superalloys by scanning electron microscopy is presented. At high temperatures the pressure of interfacial dislocations against the ,/,,-interface causes grooves. This ,fingerprint of the dislocation network' is visualized by deep selective etching, which removes the ,,-phase down to the ,/,,-interface. Compared with transmission electron microscopy, the proposed method has important advantages: observation of large sample areas, no superposition of dislocations lying in different specimen depths, possibility of three-dimensional view of dislocation configurations, information about the dislocation mobility, reduced time for preparation and visualization. The method can be applied for multiphase materials where the interface is grooved by interfacial dislocations. [source]


In situ deformation of thin films on substrates

MICROSCOPY RESEARCH AND TECHNIQUE, Issue 3 2009
Marc Legros
Abstract Metallic thin-film plasticity has been widely studied by using the difference between the coefficients of thermal expansion of the film and the underlying substrate to induce stress. This approach is commonly known as the wafer curvature technique, based on the Stoney equation, which has shown that thinner films have higher yield stresses. The linear increase of the film strength as a function of the reciprocal film thickness, down to a couple hundred nanometers, has been rationalized in terms of threading and interfacial dislocations. Polycrystalline films also show this kind of dependence when the grain size is larger than or comparable to the film thickness. In situ TEM performed on plan-view or cross-section specimens faithfully reproduces the stress state and the small strain levels seen by the metallic film during wafer curvature experiments and simultaneously follows the change in its microstructure. Although plan-view experiments are restricted to thinner films, cross-sectional samples where the film is reduced to a strip (or nanowire) on its substrate are a more versatile configuration. In situ thermal cycling experiments revealed that the dislocation/interface interaction could be either attractive or repulsive depending on the interfacial structure. Incoherent interfaces clearly act as dislocation sinks, resulting in a dislocation density drop during thermal cycles. In dislocation-depleted films (initially thin or annealed), grain boundaries can compensate for the absence of dislocations by either shearing the film similarly to threading dislocations or through fast diffusion processes. Conversely, dislocations are confined inside the film by image forces in the cases of epitaxial interfaces on hard substrates. To increase the amount of strain seen by a film, and to decouple the effects of stress and temperature, compliant substrates can also be used as support for the metallic film. The composite can be stretched at a given temperature using heating/cooling straining holders. Other in situ TEM methods that served to reveal scaling effects are also reviewed. Finally, an alternate method, based on a novel bending holder that can stretch metallic films on rigid substrates, is presented. Microsc. Res. Tech., 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]