Inter- and intragranular plasticity mechanisms in ultrafine-grained Al thin films: An in situ TEM study

The nature of the elementary deformation mechanisms in small-grained metals has been the subject of numerous recent studies. In the submicron range, mechanisms other than intragranular dislocation mechanisms, such as grain boundary (GB)-based mechanisms, are active and can explain the deviations from the Hall-Petch law. Here, we report observations performed during in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) tensile tests on initially dislocation-free Al thin films with a mean grain size around 250 nm prepared by microfabrication techniques. Intergranular plasticity is activated at the onset of plasticity. It consists of the motion of dislocations in the GB plane irrespective of the GB character. Surface imperfections, such as GB grooves, are supposed to trigger intergranular plasticity. At larger deformations, the motion of the intergranular dislocations leads to GB sliding and eventually cavitation. In the meantime, GB stress-assisted migration and dislocation emission inside the grain from GB sources have also been observed. The observation of these different mechanisms during the deformation provides an important insight into the understanding of the mechanical properties of metallic thin films. (C) 2012 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.