Stability of the chevron domain at triple-line reconstructions

The line of emergence of a grain boundary at the surface of a face centered cubic crystal may decompose into a nanoscale triangular prism with a chevronlike structure. This behavior has been found in gold, and we address here the generality of this phenomenon. The stability of the chevron structure is studied and discussed for the case of a special tilt grain boundary in copper, nickel, and aluminum. Atomistic simulations predict a chevron decomposition for Cu and Ni, but not for Al. The stability of Al against line decomposition was confirmed by atomic resolution electron microscopy. The distinct behavior of these crystals is related to their stacking fault energies.