IN-SITU OBSERVATIONS OF CLASSICAL GRAIN-GROWTH MECHANISMS DURING SINTERING OF COPPER NANOPARTICLES ON (001)COPPER

The sintering of randomly oriented copper nanoparticles in the size ra nge 4-20 nm with a single crystal (001) copper substrate has been stud ied in real time using a novel in situ ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) transmis sion electron microscope. The particles were generated in situ using a n UHV DC sputtering attachment and deposited directly onto an electron transparent copper foil inside the microscope. We demonstrate that th ese particles reorient upon heating to assume the same orientation as the substrate by a classical mechanism involving neck growth and grain boundary motion. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.