Measurement of dislocation distributions by means of X-ray diffraction

The dislocation arrangement in an Al layer with a (1 1 1) fibre texture on an oxidised Si(1 0 0) substrate has been investigated, using X-ray diffraction line broadening. Tensile stress was induced in the layer by annealing the specimen for 1 h at 673 K and subsequently cooling the specimen down to room temperature. After cooling down, the dislocation arrangement as a function of time was investigated using the diffraction line broadening of two diffraction lines. It has been obtained that predominantly screw dislocations with Burgers vectors inclined to the specimen surface occur. The dislocation density decreased as a function of time, whereas an increasing outer cut-off radius has been measured.