Speaker
Dr
Marisa Medarde
(Laboratory for Developments and Methods, Paul Scherrer Institut)
Description
Reciprocal-space techniques, among them neutron diffraction, are a common tools for the investigation of structural phase transitions. Neutron imaging, which provides direct-space information on the macro-scale, is still a rarity for this kind of studies. Here we present an example demonstrating the potential of combining both techniques. We will illustrate it with a temperature dependent study of the phase transformations, melting and re-crystallization of a heavy eutectic alloy containing gold and lead [1]. Besides complementary insight on the volume anomalies at the transitions, we show that neutron imaging provides unique, time-resolved information on the spatial fluctuations of the alloy density and composition across the melting point [2]. This information, impossible to obtain from x-ray imaging, is of enormous relevance for the understanding and modelling of crystallization processes, many of them of high technological relevance in metallurgy and engineering.
[1] M. Medarde et al., J. Nucl. Mater. 441, 72-82 (2011),
[2] R. Simons et al., in preparation.
Primary authors
Dr
Marisa Medarde
(Laboratory for Developments and Methods, Paul Scherrer Institut)
Mr
Richard Simons
(Spallation Neutron Source Division, Paul Scherrer Institut)
Co-authors
Dr
Anders Kaestner
(Spallation Neutron Source Division, Paul Scherrer Institut)
Dr
Eberhard Lehmann
(Spallation Neutron Source Division, Paul Scherrer Institut)
Dr
Kazimierz Conder
(Laboratory for Developments and Methods, Paul Scherrer Institut)
Dr
Lukas Keller
(Laboratory for Neutron Scattering, Paul Scherrer Institut)
