Grain boundary roughening transition

Abstract

Flat surfaces and grain boundaries lying on low crystal planes are singular corresponding to the cusps in the polar (Wulff) plots of their energy against their orientation. The theoretical analysis of the entropy effect at high temperatures shows that these interfaces undergo roughening transitions. The molecular dynamics simulations also show disordering to liquid-like structures at high temperatures that can be interpreted as the roughening transition. Experimentally, singular flat surfaces and grain boundaries become curved at high temperatures or with additives, indicating their roughening transition. The grain boundaries in polycrystals are often faceted with hill-and-valley shapes and their defaceting at high temperatures also show their roughening transition.