Evidence of a two--dimensional grain sliding regime in the plastic deformation of micron and sub--micron films

TL;DR

This paper presents a theoretical model for two-dimensional grain boundary sliding as the primary deformation mechanism in micron and sub-micron copper and aluminium films, aligning well with existing experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces a closed-form solution for 2D plastic flow driven by grain boundary sliding in thin films, advancing understanding of their deformation behavior.

Findings

The model agrees closely with experimental data

Grain boundary sliding is confirmed as a dominant mechanism

Provides a theoretical framework for 2D plastic deformation

Abstract

Copper and aluminium sub-micron films are structured as columnar arrays of grains traversing the entire film, and hence are virtual two-dimensional polycrystalline solids. A closed-form solution for the two-dimensional plastic flow is obtained assuming that grain boundary sliding is the dominating mechanism for deformation. The theoretical results obtained here are in close agreement with experimental data appeared in the literature, which suggests further work on the subject.