Directed assembly of controlled-misorientation bicrystals.

Grain boundaries play a vital role in determining materials behaviour, and the nature of these intercrystalline interfaces is dictated by chemical composition, processing history, and geometry (misorientation and inclination). The interrelation among these variables and material properties may be systematically studied in bicrystals. Conventional bicrystal fabrication offers control over these variables, but its ability to mimic grain boundaries in polycrystalline materials is ambiguous.