Grain growth in nanocrystalline Fe-Ag thin film

Isothermal grain growth kinetics of nanocrystalline Fe-Ag single-phase thin film, prepared by pulsed laser deposition, was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Using an empirical relation assuming that σb reduces with solute segregation, grain growth stops with saturated grain boundaries, corresponding to a metastable equilibrium system. It was found that higher Ag concentration gives smaller grain size at the metastable equilibrium, but favours phase separation upon annealing.