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arXiv · 2102.11363

Investigation of the orientation relationship between nano-sized G-phase precipitates and austenite with scanning nano-beam electron diffraction using a pixelated detector

Niels Cautaerts·Edgar F. Rauch·Jiwon Jeong·Gerhard Dehm·Christian H. Liebscher
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Abstract

Scanning nano-beam electron diffraction with a pixelated detector was employed to investigate the orientation relationship of nanometer sized, irradiation induced G-phase (M$_6$Ni$_{16}$Si$_{7}$) precipitates in an austenite matrix. Using this detector, the faint diffraction spots originating from the small G-phase particles could be resolved simultaneously as the intense matrix reflections. The diffraction patterns were analyzed using a two-stage template matching scheme, whereby the matrix is indexed first and the precipitates are indexed second after subtraction of the matrix contribution to the diffraction patterns. The results show that G-phase forms with orientation relationships relative to austenite that are characteristic of face-centered cubic (FCC) to body-centered cubic (BCC) transformations. This work demonstrates that nano-beam electron diffraction with a pixelated detector is a promising technique to investigate orientation relationships of nano-sized precipitates with complex crystal structures in other material systems with relative ease.

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Niels Cautaerts, Edgar F. Rauch, Jiwon Jeong, Gerhard Dehm, Christian H. Liebscher. 2021-02-22. Investigation of the orientation relationship between nano-sized G-phase precipitates and austenite with scanning nano-beam electron diffraction using a pixelated detector. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2021.113930

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