Interplay between grain boundary segregation and electrical resistivity in dilute nanocrystalline Cu alloys

Article history: Received 10 February 2016 Received in revised form 22 May 2016 Accepted 8 June 2016 Available online xxxx The relationships betweenmicrostructure, controlled by alloying elements prone to grain boundary segregation, and electrical resistivity in sputtered nanocrystalline Cu were investigated. We find a non-monotonic dependence of themean grain size on solute concentration for both Cu-Nb and Cu-Fe dilute alloys, with a concentration regimewhere the grain size increases over that of pure Cu before refining with further alloying. The electrical resistivity follows the same trend, suggesting a non-equilibrium processing route that remarkably gives rise to dilute nanocrystalline Cu alloys with lower resistivity, thermal stability, and enhanced mechanical properties relative to their pure nanocrystalline counterpart. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.