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- Electron backscatter diffraction (15)
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- Kurdjumov-Sachs (3)
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- Nishiyama-Wassermann (3)
- Orientation relationship (3)
- AFM (2)
Organisationseinheit der BAM
The orientation relationship (OR) between the bcc and fcc phase in the plessite microstructure of the iron meteorites Watson, Agpalilik and Gibeon has been analysed in a scanning electron microscope using electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD). A very strong OR exists, independently on the analysed plessite type and the observed spreading of single orientation data. The agreement between the experimental orientation distribution and existing models varies for each meteorite. The black plessite in the Agpalilik corresponds to the Nishiyama-Wassermann model whereas the Duplex plessite of the Gibeon meteorite shows an OR close to the Kurdjumov-Sachs model. The Watson meteorite is strongly deformed so that a general OR is difficult to determine due to the blurred experimental orientation distribution.
Since the BSE signal depends on many factors, like the chemistry of the phase and the acceleration voltage, the size and position of the detector array is (slightly) different from phase to phase so that an (iterative) post-processing of the stored patterns is highly recommended. The derived BSE signal can be used for phase assignment in high resolution and high speed maps when EBSD fails and/or EDS (energy dispersive spectroscopy) needs too much time for a suitable and parallel signal acquisition.
Pole figures are often used to present crystal orientation data. The huge number of single orientation measurements acquired by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) poses a challenge for pole figure representation due to the large number of calculations required. This significantly reduces the speed at which the data may be rotated and affects the ability to switch between different projection types. In the present work, it will be shown that satisfactory representation of orientation data in different projection types can generally be achieved by an imaging of a spherical projection. With this approach, explicit calculation of the projections is no longer required, allowing for both real-time dataset rotation and real-time switching between all projection types relevant to materials science. The technique can be applied to any other directional property distribution, for example, not only for EBSD orientation presentation.
A concept based on the application of a cube as a general polyhedron is presented for the visualization of point group symmetry. The cube is used to represent both the highest and lowest crystal symmetries, with differences observable as patterns characteristic to each point group. Patterns are generated using direction-specific color keys, which enable the recognition of point group-specific distribution of vectors in an external reference frame. For the visualization of the incoherent hexagonal crystal classes, two twinned cubes are applied in order to generate symmetry operators that would otherwise be missing. The resulting hexagonal dipyramid is described in the frame of a cube, reducing the number of used symmetry operators from 72 to 60. The complete set of 32 polyhedra are suitable, for example, as a visual aid for understanding the crystal symmetry and/or sub- and supergroup relationships.
We have studied the anisotropic milling of Cu with respect to the milling rate and the milling topography, as well. The background is twofold: i) anisotropic milling has to be taken into account during the preparation of TEM specimens and in the manufacturing of micro parts from crystalline materials, and ii) the orientation depending milling behaviour can be used to generate topographies with specific properties with respect to, for example, adsorption, wear, and corrosion.
Optical and scanning electron microscopy, as well as electron microprobe analysis and electron backscatter diffraction, have been used to study diffusion processes that occur in a diffusion pair that consistsof a single-crystal CMSX-10 nickel-base superalloy and polycrystalline nickel, at temperatures of 1050–1250°C. It has been found that, in this system, the distributions of γ-stabilizing elements (Cr, Co, W, and Re) are described by the Boltzmann solution for diffusion between two semiinfinite plates of a binary alloy. The processing of these distributions has shown that the diffusion coefficients of Cr, Co, W, and Re in the multicomponent system are close to those in binary alloys of these elements with Ni. The diffusion redistribution of the elements leads to the dissolution of the γ′ phase in the nickel-base superalloy, growth of nickel grains toward the superalloy constituent of the diffusion pair, and the formation of porosity on both sides of the migrating interface, which is determined from a crystal misorientation of the alloy single crystal and nickel grains.
Modern EBSD systems perform diffraction pattern “quality” (PQ) calculations, essentially measurements of the contrast of the brighter bands in the pattern above background, for every pattern analyzed. Since the calculations are independent of EBSD indexing, data are generated from all points on the analyzed sample surface, regardless of indexability or the state of the material beneath. EBSD maps generated from PQ data are like microstructurally sensitive SEM images, collected at EBSD speeds and grid resolutions, with contrast arising from phase density, crystal structure, crystallographic orientation, grain boundary location, near-surface plastic strain, coating density/thickness, and to some extent topography. Grain boundaries and other aspects of sample microstructure are readily revealed, so the PQ map is a very useful characterization tool in its own right, and serves as a reference for EBSD maps generated from indexing-derived data, such as orientation, grain boundary character, phase distribution and strain maps.
Fatigue crack propagation investigations have been performed in austenitic-ferritic duplex stainless steel H22N5M3 in air and during hydrogen charging, using various frequencies of loading. Strong differences of crack propagation velocity depending on the test conditions were noticed. Lower frequency with applied hydrogen charging led to the huge increase of crack propagation velocity compared to the tests performed in air. To understand such a behaviour in each case and characterize crack mode, the samples were observed using electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD). It was shown that in air, the fatigue crack propagation involved plastic deformation and the resulting cracks had ductile character. The presence of hydrogen led to more brittle mode of cracking. This effect was also connected with frequency of loading: lower frequency, which assured longer time for hydrogen-crack tip interaction, resulted in the highest crack propagation velocity and the brittle cracking mode with lower amount of plastic deformation. The performed observations indicated that the path of the crack went mostly transgranularly through both austenite and ferrite phases. Phase and grain boundaries were not the preferred paths for crack propagation.
During focused ion beam microscopy (FIB) of crystalline materials imaging contrast and milling result are effected by orientation of the crystals with respect to the incident ion beam. This is due to the possibility of ion channeling along preferred crystal directions which effects the depth at which interaction between ions and specimen atoms takes place. As a result of channeling emission of ion induced secondary electrons (iiSE) and secondary ions (SI) as well as the sputter rate decreases.
Theoretical channeling orientations and critical angles can be calculated.
These effects have been studied quantitatively for polycrystalline recrystallized Cu as a typical model case.
The kinetic energy of keV electrons backscattered from a rutile (TiO2) surface depends measurably on the mass of the scattering atom. This makes it possible to determine separately the angular distribution of electrons backscattered elastically from either Ti or O. Diffraction effects of these backscattered electrons inside the rutile crystal lead to the formation of Kikuchi patterns. The element-resolved Kikuchi patterns of Ti and O differ characteristically, but each can be described fairly well in terms of the dynamical theory of diffraction. Qualitatively, much of the differences can be understood by considering the relative arrangement of the Ti and O atoms with respect to planes defined by the crystal lattice.
The hydrogen influence on the microstructure of the austenitic-ferritic Cr22-Ni5-Mo3 stainless steel was investigated. Cathodic hydrogen charging was performed electrochemically from aqueous solution of 0.1M H2SO4 with hydrogen entry promoter addition. The aim of this study was to reveal microstructural changes appearing during the hydrogen charging and particularly to clarify the occurrence of phase transformations induced by hydrogen. The specific changes in both phases of steel were observed. In the ferritic phase, strong increase of dislocation density was noticed. Longer time of hydrogen charging leaded also to the strips and twin plates formation in ferrite phase. In the austenitic phase, the generation of stacking faults, followed by the formation of α' martensite was remarked.
Interphase boundary characterization in duplex steel and iron meteorites using EBSD technique
(2006)
The properties of materials are mainly described by the orientation distribution of the crystalline phases in a material. Beside the so considered anisotropy also the grain as well as phase boundaries are of extreme importance for a whole string of properties, e.g. the strength of a material. On the example of the interface between fcc and bcc iron the discovered and derived models are discussed. Although the common models are based on the crystal lattice description, the atomic configuration on the interface is analysed. Since experimentally a wide spread of orientations data appears the consideration of the frequency distribution is proposed to find at least the main orientation relationship between fcc and bcc. High-indexed pole figures as well as the Euler subspace are introduced in order to increase the accuracy and to compare different measurements. For the sake of simplicity EBSD measurements on iron meteorites are used since they commonly consist of large fcc single crystals which transformed to a low and very specific number of bcc grains. In special cases the described procedure could also be used for steels.
The competitive growth of columnar grains in a single-grain selector, which is used for directional solidification of single-crystal blades from nickel-based superalloys, has been investigated by electron backscattered diffraction and local X-ray diffraction analysis. It has been found that the competitive grain growth in a starter block is determined by the crystallographic factor: rapidly growing grains with the axial orientation close to the [001] direction dominate in this part of the casting. For the competitive grain growth in a helicoidal separator, the geometric factor (the position of a grain at the input of the separator) is also important. The results obtained suggest that an appropriate geometry of the single-grain selector was chosen. In addition, the distribution of the orientations of columnar grains obtained by electron backscattered diffraction, can be used for approximate estimation of the yield of suitable (i.e., with the deviation of the axial orientation from the [001] direction within a specified tolerance) single-crystal blades.
Irrational orientation relationship derived from rational orientation relationships using EBSD data
(2008)
The determination of the orientation relationship (OR) between α-Fe matrix (bcc) and γ-Fe precipitates (fcc) is discussed using orientation data collected by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The comparatively low accuracy of EBSD is compensated by the high number of measurements what allows a general statement regarding to the mean OR existing in a sample. The representation and discussion is realized on a part of the Bain zone in a {001} pole figure. A discussion of some selected rational OR which are commonly used for the phase boundary characterization between α and γ shows that the pole figures describing a transformation from γ → α are different to those for α → γ. A technique is proposed based on at least three misorientation angles between the experimental OR to the rational OR's as reference. For the misorientation angle distribution a refinement is applied to extract the mean values. They are used to detect the mean OR, what is also possible for only a few or even a single precipitate if the number of measurements describing the phase boundary is sufficiently high.
We discuss a refined simulation approach which treats Kikuchi diffraction patterns in electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD). The model considers the result of two combined mechanisms: (a) the dynamical diffraction of electrons emitted coherently from point sources in a crystal and (b) diffraction effects on incoherent diffuse intensity distributions. Using suitable parameter settings, the refined simulation model allows to reproduce various thickness- and energy-dependent features which are observed in experimental Kikuchi diffraction patterns. Excess-deficiency features are treated by the effect of gradients in the incoherent background intensity. Based on the analytical two-beam approximation to dynamical electron diffraction, a phenomenological model of excess-deficiency features is derived, which can be used for pattern matching applications. The model allows to approximate the effect of the incident beam geometry as a correction signal for template patterns which can be reprojected from pre-calculated reference data. As an application, we find that the accuracy of fitted projection centre coordinates in EBSD and TKDcan be affected by changes in the order of 10−3–10−2 if excess-deficiency
features are not considered in the theoreticalmodel underlying a best-fit pattern matching approach. Correspondingly, the absolute accuracy of simulation-based EBSD strain determination can suffer frombiases of a similar order of magnitude if excess-deficiency effects are neglected in the simulation model.
Mechanism of porosity growth during homogenisation in single crystal nickel-based superalloys
(2013)
Several mechanisms for porosity growth in single crystal nickel-based superalloys during homogenisation heat treatment have been proposed in the literature. They were carefully checked using different experimental methods, namely quantitative light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and density measurements. It is shown that the main mechanism is the Kirkendall–Frenkel effect, i.e. generation of voids due to uncompensated efflux of Al atoms from dissolving γ/γ′-eutectic areas. The Al diffusion is supported by the afflux of vacancies from surrounding γ-matrix which results in porosity growth. This conclusion is confirmed by the estimation of the vacancy afflux towards the dissolving eutectic.
The macro- and microstructure of iron meteorites provide valuable insights into both the inner structure of our planet and the history of our solar system. High speed collision events in the asteroid belt send the meteorites careening toward Earth. The collisions produce unique deformation microstructures. With cooling rates on the scale of a few degrees per million years, iron meteorites can consist of crystal sizes on the order of meters prior to the collision events. These extremely slow cooling rates result in phase transformations occurring at conditions near thermodynamic equilibrium. Preserving meteorite fragments is important for future studies of phase transformations, material behavior at high strain rates, and the origin of the universe.
Biofilms living on gold (Au) grains play a key role in the biogeochemical cycle of Au by promoting the dispersion of Au via the formation of Au nanoparticles as well as the formation of secondary biomorphic Au. Gold grains from Queensland, Australia, are covered by a polymorphic, organic-inorganic layer that is up to 40 μm thick. It consists of a bacterial biofilm containing Au nanoparticles associated with extracellular polymeric substances as well as bacterioform Au. Focused ion beam (FIB) sectioning through the biofilm revealed that aggregates of nanoparticulate Au line open spaces beneath the active biofilm layer. These aggregates (bacterioform Au type 1) resulted from the reprecipitation of dissolved Au, and their internal growth structures provide direct evidence for coarsening of the Au grains. At the contact between the polymorphic layer and the primary Au, bacterioform Au type 2 is present. It consists of solid rounded forms into which crystal boundaries of underlying primary Au extend, and is the result of dealloying and Ag dissolution from the primary Au. This study demonstrates that (1) microbially driven dissolution, precipitation, and aggregation lead to the formation of bacterioform Au and contribute to the growth of Au grains under supergene conditions, and (2) the microbially driven mobilization of coarse Au into nanoparticles plays a key role in mediating the mobility of Au in surface environments, because the release of nanoparticulate Au upon biofilm disintegration greatly enhances environmental mobility compared to Au complexes only.
The tetragonal crystal- structure type of chalcopyrites (chemical formula AIBIIICVI2) is a superstructure of sphalerite type. The c/a ratio differs generally from the ideal value 2, i.e., the crystal structure is pseudocubically distorted. For CuInSe2 and CuGaSe2 thin films, simulations demonstrate that it is theoretically possible to reveal the tetragonality in electron backscatter-diffraction (EBSD) patterns for CuGaSe2, whereas it may not be possible for CuInSe2. EBSD experiments on CuGaSe2 thin films using the ”Advanced Fit” band-detection method show that it is possible to extract accurate misorientation-angle distributions from the CuGaSe2 thin film. Pole figures revealing the texture of the CuGaSe2 thin film are shown, which agree well with X-ray texture measurements from the same layer.
Automated electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) is generally unable to distinguish between multiple cubic phases in a specimen without additional information, such as that obtained by simultaneous energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Small particles of phases with relatively similar compositions push the limits of phase identification using simultaneous EBSD and EDS, and a mismatch exists between the spatial resolutions of these two techniques due to them having different electron interaction volumes. In a recent paper, the present authors explored using backscatter detectors mounted on top of the EBSD detector to obtain atomic number (Z) contrast images that could be used for phase segmentation in cases where the results from the EBSD and EDS signals remain ambiguous. In the present work, we show that similar information can be obtained from the raw EBSD patterns themselves at higher spatial resolution than was obtained from the backscatter detectors, with the additional advantage of having no spatial mismatch between the data collection grids.
EBSD is nowadays a common technique for the characterization of crystalline microstructures in scanning electron microscopy. The diffraction patterns are often interpreted by superimposing individual Kikuchi bands which are geometrically described by band edges derived from Braggs law. For the typically very simple crystal structures of technically applied materials, such a simplification of the Kikuchi pattern interpretation works sufficiently well, especially for orientation determinations as a main application of EBSD. The more complex crystal structures, however, are a challenge for EBSD indexing routines which in such cases often fail unpredictably. The use of only the intensities of single reflectors for a description of the Kikuchi band intensity and as a cut-off criterion for a pre-selection of the strongest bands are not satisfactory. Often the result will match too many phases, or there are certain deviations in the intensity prediction which must be adapted manually. This is already problematic if one is absolutely sure that the patterns are originating from the expected phase and it becomes a very questionable procedure for an unknown phase.
A new technique for investigation of interfacial dislocations in nickel-base superalloys by scanning electron microscopy is presented. At high temperatures the pressure of interfacial dislocations against the gamma/gamma'-interface causes grooves. This 'fingerprint of the dislocation network' is visualized by deep selective etching, which removes the gamma'-phase down to the gamma/gamma'-interface. Compared with transmission electron microscopy, the proposed method has important advantages: observation of large sample areas, no superposition of dislocations lying in different specimen depths, possibility of three-dimensional view of dislocation configurations, information about the dislocation mobility, reduced time for preparation and visualization. The method can be applied for multiphase materials where the interface is grooved by interfacial dislocations.
The advent of simultaneous energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) data collection has vastly improved the phase separation capabilities for electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) mapping. A major problem remains, however, in distinguishing between multiple cubic phases in a specimen, especially when the compositions of the phases are similar or their particle sizes are small because the EDS interaction volume is much larger than that of EBSD, and the EDS spectra collected during spatial mapping are generally noisy due to time limitations and the need to minimize sample drift. The backscatter electron (BSE) signal is very sensitive to the local composition due to its atomic number (Z) dependence. BSE imaging is investigated as a complimentary tool to EDS to assist phase segmentation and identification in EBSD through examination of specimens of meteorite, Cu dross, and steel oxidation layers. The results demonstrate that the simultaneous acquisition of EBSD patterns, EDS spectra, and the BSE signal can provide new potential for advancing multiphase material characterization in the scanning electron microscope.
The thermal stability of the microstructure of a heat-resistant cobalt alloy, which consists of a γ solid solution strengthened with γ'-phase precipitates, has been studied. The temperature behavior of the dissolution of the hardening γ' phase and the kinetics of its coarsening at 700 and 800°C have been determined. It is found that, during prolonged annealing at 800°C, the γ' → β phase transformation occurs.