Self-Diffusion in Polycrystalline Tin

Abstract

The rate of volume diffusion in polycrystals of tin, as indicated by the darkening of photographic films, is in general agreement with the previous measurements of the rate of self-diffusion in different crystallographic directions. The rate of diffusion along the grain boundaries is generally considerably higher than that of volume diffusion except when the boundary is that between twins or between crystals of similar orientations. These observations are discussed in terms of recent theories of the grain boundary and the vacancy mechanism of diffusion.