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Beam-Broadening Effects in STEM/EDS Measurement of Radiation-Induced Segregation in High-Purity 304L Stainless Steel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

J.T. Busby ,
T.R. Allen ,
E.A. Kenik ,
N.J. Zaluzec  and
G.S. Was
J.T. Busby
Affiliation:
The University of Michigan, Dept. of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Ann Arbor, MI48109.
T.R. Allen
Affiliation:
The University of Michigan, Dept. of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Ann Arbor, MI48109. Argonne National Laboratory-West, Idaho Falls, ID83403
E.A. Kenik
Affiliation:
Metals and Ceramics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN37831
N.J. Zaluzec
Affiliation:
Metals and Ceramics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL60439
G.S. Was
Affiliation:
The University of Michigan, Dept. of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Ann Arbor, MI48109.
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Extract

Radiation-induced segregation (RIS) is the spatial redistribution of elements at defect sinks such as grain boundaries and free surfaces during irradiation. This phenomenon has been studied in a wide variety of alloys and has been linked to irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC) of nuclear reactor core components. Therefore, accurate determination of the grain boundary composition is important in understanding its effects on environmental cracking. Radiation-induced segregation profiles are routinely measured by scanning-transmission electron microscopy using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (STEM-EDS) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). Because of the narrow width of the segregation profile (typically less than 10 nm full width at half-maximum), the accuracy of grain boundary concentration measurements using STEM/EDS depends on the characteristics of the analyzing instrument, specifically, the excited volume in which x-rays are generated. This excited volume is determined by both electron beam diameter and the primary electron beam energy. Increasing the primary beam energy in STEM/EDS produces greater measured grain boundary segregation, as the reduced electron beam broadening a smaller excited volume.

Type
Segregation and Diffusion Analysis in Materials
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 3 , Issue S2: Proceedings: Microscopy & Microanalysis '97, Microscopy Society of America 55th Annual Meeting, Microbeam Analysis Society 31st Annual Meeting, Histochemical Society 48th Annual Meeting, Cleveland, Ohio, August 10-14, 1997 , August 1997 , pp. 545 - 546
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 1997

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References

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