Atomic-scale processes of grain-boundary faceting in a zirconia bicrystal

摘要

In this paper, we characterized atomic structure of a Σ = 3, [110]/{112} grain boundary in a yttria-stabilized cubic zirconia bicrystal. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) clearly revealed that the grain boundary migrated to form {111}/{115} periodical facets, although the bicrystal was initially joined so as to have the symmetric straight boundary plane of {112}. Atomic-scale process for the facet growth could be modeled by the continuous flippings of atoms at the boundary core.