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Correlative Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopic Tomography and Atom Probe Tomography of the Phase Separation in an Alnico 8 Alloy†

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 December 2016

Wei Guo ,
Brian T. Sneed ,
Lin Zhou ,
Wei Tang ,
Matthew J. Kramer ,
David A. Cullen  and
Jonathan D. Poplawsky
Wei Guo*
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
Brian T. Sneed
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
Lin Zhou
Affiliation:
Ames Laboratory, Division of Materials Science and Engineering, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Wei Tang
Affiliation:
Ames Laboratory, Division of Materials Science and Engineering, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Matthew J. Kramer
Affiliation:
Ames Laboratory, Division of Materials Science and Engineering, Ames, IA 50011, USA
David A. Cullen
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
Jonathan D. Poplawsky*
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
*
*Corresponding authors. wguo2007@gmail.com; poplawskyJD@ornl.gov
*Corresponding authors. wguo2007@gmail.com; poplawskyJD@ornl.gov
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Abstract

Alnico alloys have long been used as strong permanent magnets because of their ferromagnetism and high coercivity. Understanding their structural details allows for better prediction of the resulting magnetic properties. However, quantitative three-dimensional characterization of the phase separation in these alloys is still challenged by the spatial quantification of nanoscale phases. Herein, we apply a dual tomography approach, where correlative scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopic (EDS) tomography and atom probe tomography (APT) are used to investigate the initial phase separation process of an alnico 8 alloy upon non-magnetic annealing. STEM-EDS tomography provides information on the morphology and volume fractions of Fe–Co-rich and Νi–Al-rich phases after spinodal decomposition in addition to quantitative information of the composition of a nanoscale volume. Subsequent analysis of a portion of the same specimen by APT offers quantitative chemical information of each phase at the sub-nanometer scale. Furthermore, APT reveals small, 2–4 nm Fe-rich α1 phases that are nucleated in the Ni-rich α2 matrix. From this information, we show that phase separation of the alnico 8 alloy consists of both spinodal decomposition and nucleation and growth processes. The complementary benefits and challenges associated with correlative STEM-EDS and APT are discussed.

Keywords

phase separationatom probe tomography (APT)electron tomographycorrelative tomographyalnico alloy
Type
Materials Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 22 , Issue 6 , December 2016 , pp. 1251 - 1260
Copyright
© Microscopy Society of America 2016 

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Footnotes

†

This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy. The US Government is the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan).

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