Orientation gradients in rapidly solidified pure aluminum thin films: comparison of experiments and phase-field crystal simulations

TL;DR

This study combines experiments and phase-field crystal simulations to investigate orientation gradients in rapidly solidified aluminum thin films, revealing defect-related origins of these gradients.

Contribution

It introduces a phase-field crystal model for pure aluminum that quantitatively reproduces experimentally observed orientation gradients during rapid solidification.

Findings

Simulations match experimental orientation gradients

Defects are linked to the formation of orientation gradients

The model captures solid, liquid, and vapor phases in aluminum

Abstract

Rapid solidification experiments on thin film aluminum samples reveal the presence of lattice orientation gradients within crystallizing grains. To study this phenomenon, a single-component phase-field crystal (PFC) model that captures the properties of solid, liquid, and vapor phases is proposed to model pure aluminium quantitatively. A coarse-grained amplitude representation of this model is used to simulate solidification in samples approaching micrometer scales. The simulations reproduce the experimentally observed orientation gradients within crystallizing grains when grown at experimentally relevant rapid quenches. We propose a causal connection between formation of defects and orientation gradients.