RESUMEN
Applying high-resolution electron backscatter diffraction (HR-EBSD) to materials without regions that are amenable to the acquisition of backgrounds for static flat fielding (background subtraction) can cause analysis problems. To address this difficulty, the efficacy of electron beam induced deposition (EBID) of material as a source for an amorphous background signal is assessed and found to be practical. Using EBID material for EBSD backgrounds allows single crystal and large-grained samples to be analyzed using HR-EBSD for strain and small angle rotation measurement.
RESUMEN
Compared to more commonly used strain measurement techniques, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) offers improved spatial resolution and measurement sensitivity. Additionally, EBSD can provide the full deformation tensor, whereas other techniques, such as digital image correlation (DIC), are limited to only in-plane strains and rotations. In this work, EBSD was used to measure strains and rotations in-situ during testing of a single-crystal silicon micromechanical test specimen. The theta-like specimen geometry was chosen due to the complex and spatially-varying strain states that exist in the circular frame of the sample during testing, as well as the nominally uniform strains in the central web. Full-field strain maps were generated for each strain and rotation component and compared to those from finite element analyses (FEA), showing strong agreement in all cases. Additionally, potential sources of error and their impact on both measurement accuracy and uncertainty are discussed.
RESUMEN
Scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) through-focus imaging (TFI) has been used to determine the three-dimensional atomic structure of Bi segregation-induced brittle Cu grain boundaries (GBs). With TFI, it is possible to observe single Bi atom distributions along Cu [001] twist GBs using an aberration-corrected STEM operating at 200 kV. The depth resolution is ~5 nm. Specimens with GBs intentionally inclined with respect to the microscope's optic axis were used to investigate Bi segregant atom distributions along and through the Cu GB. It was found that Bi atoms exist at most once per Cu unit cell along the GB, meaning that no continuous GB film is present. Therefore, the reduced fracture toughness of this particular Bi-doped Cu boundary would not be caused by fracture of Bi-Bi bonds.
RESUMEN
Laboratory notebooks have been a staple of scientific research for centuries for organizing and documenting ideas and experiments. Modern laboratories are increasingly reliant on electronic data collection and analysis, so it seems inevitable that the digital revolution should come to the ordinary laboratory notebook. The most important aspect of this transition is to make the shift as comfortable and intuitive as possible, so that the creative process that is the hallmark of scientific investigation and engineering achievement is maintained, and ideally enhanced. The smart electronic laboratory notebooks described in this paper represent a paradigm shift from the old pen and paper style notebooks and provide a host of powerful operational and documentation capabilities in an intuitive format that is available anywhere at any time.