B03 – Local chemistry of defect phases

PI: Marcus Hans (Chair of Materials Chemistry, RWTH Aachen)

SFB researcher: Deborah Neuß (Chair of Materials Chemistry, RWTH Aachen)

Within this project, the local chemistry of Mg(Al,Ca)-solid solutions, (Mg,Al)2Ca laves phases and solid solution/laves phase interfaces in thin films, as well as bulk samples, is investigated via atom probe tomography. Identifying the atomic distribution of the constitutional elements within the different defect types (e.g. phase boundaries, precipitates, grain boundaries, dislocations) depending on the matrix composition will allow us to understand their influence on phase formation, deformation and corrosion behavior. Simultaneous information about the nanostructure and the local chemical environment is obtained by scanning transmission electron microscopy for thin film and bulk samples, as well as correlative transmission Kikuchi diffraction at atom probe tips for selected samples.