A scanning force microscopy study of grain boundary energy in copper subjected to equal channel angular pressing

We employed a scanning force microscopy technique to determine the ratio of grain boundary and surface energies in copper using the thermal grooving method. Samples of ultrafine grain copper obtained by four passes of equal channel angular pressing were heat treated in a reducing atmosphere at 400 degrees C for 15 min and at 800 degrees C for 2 h. The average dihedral angles of the grain boundary grooves after the former and the latter heat treatments were 152.4 +/- 6.3 degrees and 164.2 +/- 4.3 degrees, respectively, which can be translated into the difference by a factor of 1.8 in average grain boundary energies. This difference implies that the grain boundaries in ultrafine grain copper produced by equal channel angular pressing are in a state of high non-equilibrium that cannot be fully relaxed after a short annealing at 400 degrees C, but that undergoes significant relaxation after annealing at 800 degrees C. (c) 2007 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.