The Annealing of Voids in Quenched Aluminium and a Determination of the Surface Energy

Abstract

AbstractOctahedral voids up to 500 Å in diameter have been produced in thin foils of spectroscopically pure aluminium by quenching. Transmission electron microscopy has been used to investigate the thermal stability of these voids and it is observed that they anneal out rapidly in the range 150–200°C. The kinetics of the annealing is in good agreement with that expected from a diffusion-controlled rate process, and a value for the surface energy γs = 1140 ± 200 ergs/cm2 has been obtained.