Atomistic Simulation of Y‐Doped α‐Alumina Interfaces

The exact mechanism of creep resistance enhancement due to yttrium (Y) doping in α‐alumina is still subject to speculation, although it is known that dopants segregate strongly to grain boundaries. The current work applies atomistic simulation techniques to the study of segregation to a reasonable number of interfaces in Y‐doped α‐alumina. Y is shown to segregate stronger to surfaces than grain boundaries and to form ordered structures at the interfaces, which may decrease diffusion coefficients. These Y‐ordered regions may act as nucleation sites for YAG precipitates particularly for rapid sintering techniques.