Small scale materials behavior from X-ray microdiffraction and imaging: Part II

Abstract

To read more about her, turn to page 8. To join TMS, visit www.tms.org/Society/Membership.aspx. This special set of papers is a continuation of the topic started in the JOM December 2010 issue.1–4 It highlights several novel applications of xray microdiffraction and imaging to study structural properties of materials at small length scales. The development of ultra-brilliant synchrotron x-ray sources together with the development of new software provides new insights for the analysis of local material structures at the mesoand nanoscales. The special JOM topic starts with a manuscript by Kerber et al. which presents the state-of-the-art x-ray line profi le analysis. The authors demonstrate that x-ray line-profi le analysis can be very useful for quantifying structural parameters in nanomaterials. The authors use this method to study dislocation distributions in crystalline materials. They present models for line broadening effects caused by fi nite crystallite size, lattice strain, planar faults, internal stresses, and point defects. Several example applications for nanostructured materials are described. This manuscript shows that modern line-profi le-analysis is a useful tool for studies of nanomaterials. The next paper, by Lienert et al., describes high-energy diffraction microscopy (HEDM) at the Advanced Photon Source. These experiments can provide important information about deformation and structure evolution at the mesoscale. HEDM can be performed in the two possible geometries: near-fi eld and far-fi eld. Near-fi eld geometry is used for mapping grain boundary topology, while far-fi eld geometry gives inforSmall Scale Materials Behavior from X-ray Microdiffraction and Imaging: Part II