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Microstructural stability of copper with antimony dopants at grain boundaries: experiments and molecular dynamics simulations

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Abstract

This study presents evidence that the microstructural stability of fine-grained and nanocrystalline Cu is improved by alloying with Sb. Experimentally, Cu100−x Sb x alloys are cast in three compositions (Cu-0.0, 0.2, and 0.5 at.%Sb) and extruded into fine-grained form (with average grain diameter of 350 nm) by equal channel angular extrusion. Alloying the Cu specimens with Sb causes an increase in the temperature associated with microstructural evolution to 400 °C, compared to 250 °C for pure Cu. This is verified by measurements of microhardness, ultimate tensile strength, and grain size using transmission electron microscopy. Complementary molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are performed on nanocrystalline Cu–Sb alloy models (with average grain diameter of 10 nm). MD simulations show fundamentally that Sb atoms placed at random sites along the grain boundaries can stabilize the nanocrystalline Cu microstructure during an accelerated annealing process.

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Acknowledgements

Funding for this work was provided by the Irma and Raymond Giffels’ Endowed Chair in Engineering at the University of Arkansas. DES appreciates additional support from Oak Ridge Associated Universities via the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed on “Star of Arkansas”, funding for which was provided in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant MRI #072265. Support from the Department of Energy for conducting the TEM, OIM and Auger Spectroscopy analysis at the SHaRE User Facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory is acknowledged. TEM, OIM and Auger Electron Spectroscopy analysis were performed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory SHaRE User Facility that is sponsored by the Division of Scientific User Facilities, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy. Support from the Texas Engineering Experiment Station for ECAE processing is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA

    Rahul K. Rajgarhia, Ashok Saxena & Douglas E. Spearot

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

    K. Ted Hartwig

  3. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA

    Karren L. More, Edward A. Kenik & Harry Meyer

  4. Cardiology, Rhythm and Vascular Division, Boston Scientific, St. Paul, MN, USA

    Rahul K. Rajgarhia

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  1. Rahul K. Rajgarhia
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  3. Douglas E. Spearot
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Correspondence to Douglas E. Spearot.

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Rajgarhia, R.K., Saxena, A., Spearot, D.E. et al. Microstructural stability of copper with antimony dopants at grain boundaries: experiments and molecular dynamics simulations. J Mater Sci 45, 6707–6718 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-010-4764-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-010-4764-1

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