CURVED CRYSTAL-LATTICE IN RESOLIDIFIED SUBMICRON AL LINES

The microstructure of Al lines resolidified in an amorphous groove pat tern, is investigated by backscatter Kikuchi diffraction, x-ray diffra ction, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Ii a temperature gr adient is present during cooling, the Al lines do not have the common (111) fiber texture. Instead, the (111) crystal planes are parallel to the vertical sidewalls of the grooves and the crystal lattice shows a remarkable, constant curvature over the entire line length of 1 cm. T EM revealed parallel dislocations in the bulk of the line and small cr ystallites at the interfaces. It is suggested that the (111) sidewall texture is a consequence of the sidewall area being larger than the bo ttom area. The observed lattice curvature is explained by a nonisotrop ic movement of dislocations during cooling. (C) 1997 American Institut e of Physics.