STEM-EELS/EDS Chemical Analysis of Solute Clusters in a Dilute Mille-Feuille-Type Mg–Zn–Y Alloy

Abstract

Dilute Mg-Zn-Y alloy with a mille-feuille structure (MFS) exhibits a mechanical strength comparable to Mg-Zn-Y alloy with long period stacking/ordered (LPSO) structure through kink deformation. In order to deepen understanding the thermal stability of the MFS-type Mg alloys, it is required to clarify the solute cluster structures composed of Zn and Y in solute enriched stacking faults (SESFs). In this study, electron energy-loss and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy based on scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM-EELS/EDS) were conducted to investigate the electronic structure and composition of Zn and Y in the SESFs of the MFS-Mg alloy. Zn-L2,3 spectra indicated that the valence charges of Zn in the dilute Mg alloy were different from that of the LPSO-type Mg-Zn-Y alloy. In addition, the intensity ratio of L3/L2 in Y-L2,3 spectrum of the dilute MFS-Mg alloy was larger than that of the LPSO-Mg alloy, reflecting the electron occupancies of 4d3/2 and 4d5/2 orbitals of Y atoms were different from those of the LPSO-Mg alloys. STEM-EELS analysis of the SESF composition in the dilute MFS-Mg alloy indicated that the Zn/Y ratio should be lower than that of the LPSO-Mg alloy, which was confirmed also by STEM-EDS measurements. These results indicate that the cluster structure in the SESFs of the dilute MFS-Mg alloy should be different from the ideal Zn6Y8 cluster in the LPSO-type Mg-Zn-Y alloys.