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Characterization of 25–75 nm phases found at the periphery of multiphase inclusions: techniques comparison and selection
Author(s) -
Blais,
L'Espérance,
Baril
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2818.1998.00303.x
Subject(s) - transmission electron microscopy , materials science , scanning electron microscope , characterization (materials science) , electron energy loss spectroscopy , acicular , energy dispersive x ray spectroscopy , energy filtered transmission electron microscopy , microstructure , spectroscopy , acicular ferrite , electron microscope , analytical chemistry (journal) , ferrite (magnet) , electron diffraction , scanning transmission electron microscopy , crystallography , diffraction , chemistry , optics , composite material , nanotechnology , bainite , physics , austenite , chromatography , quantum mechanics
It is believed that particular phases found at the surface of inclusions in steel welds favour the formation of acicular ferrite. Such a microstructure increases tremendously the toughness of the weld deposits. Until now, it is not clear which phases are favourable, the uncertainty being partly due to the difficulty of characterizing phases with sizes of about 100 nm at the periphery of inclusions. We compared characterization techniques including scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy‐dispersive spectrometry and parallel electron energy‐loss spectroscopy. We found that, in general, it is possible to identify the phases unambiguously by comparing the results of energy‐dispersive spectrometry and electron diffraction patterns in the transmission electron microscope on samples prepared by carbon extraction replicas. For cases where the size is very small (< 50 nm) and/or when similarities in composition and crystal structure are difficult to differentiate, spectrum imaging using parallel electron energy‐loss spectroscopy on samples prepared by ultramicrotomy is the most powerful characterization technique.