Utilizing the SIMS technique in the study of grain boundary diffusion along twist grain boundaries in the Cu(Ni) system

The secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) technique was used to study grain boundary diffusion along (100) twist grain boundaries in the Cu(Ni) system. Concentration profiles of Ni down Cu twist grain boundaries with nominal disorientation angles of 10degrees, Sigma5 (36.87degrees), and 45degrees, were measured using the SIMS technique. The average activation energy for grain boundary diffusion, Q(b), was found to be 245 +/- 22, 140 +/- 10, and 102 +/- 15 kJ/mol, for the 10degrees, Sigma5, and 45degrees twist grain boundaries, respectively. The average grain boundary diffusion pre-exponential term, sdeltaD(bo), was found to be 9.6 +/- 1.24 x 10(-9), 1.1 +/- 0.17 X 10(-14), and 1.3 +/- 0.36 x 10(-16) m(3)/S, for the 10degrees, Sigma5, and 45degrees twist grain boundaries, respectively. (C) 2002 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.