Growth of oriented tricrystals of an Fe–Si alloy

Growth of oriented tricrystals of an Fe–Si base alloy by means of floating-zone technique is described in detail. It is shown that successful growth of such structure is possible when the growth directions in all component crystals are close and when the angles between each two grain boundaries that are parallel to the tricrystal axis, are close to 120°. The sources of undesirable inclination of the triple junction from its position in tricrystal axis are specified and discussed, and the requirements for successful growth of tricrystals are specified.