3D Micron-Resolution Laue Diffraction

Abstract

A fundamental question of materials science is how atomic-scale interactions self-organize atoms into mesoscopic structures. This simple question is important because the physical behavior of most materials is dominated by mesoscale structure and dynamics. For example, self-organization is essential to understand grain-growth and deformation microstructure and to understand their effects on plasticity, strength, fracture, transport, and other materials properties. To understand how mesostructures arise, and how they influence materials behavior, it is essential to map local elemental composition, crystal/local structure, and geometrical/chemical defect distributions. In materials, this information is mathematically approximated by three-dimensional (3D) tensor fields, which are typically highly heterogeneous. For this reason, 3D quantitative probes are essential. X-ray microdiffraction is particularly interesting as it provides detailed atomic-resolution information about local crystalline structure correlated with the mesoscale (0.1–10 mm) real-space resolution of the probe. Furthermore, unlike almost any other probe, X-ray microbeams can nondestructively characterize materials properties in three-dimensions and can observe mesoscale evolution as a response to underlying driving forces (e.g., stress).