The state of order in Fe–Al studied by precession electron diffraction

Abstract

Precession electron diffraction (PED) has been carried out on a fully ordered Fe–40at.%Al solid solution in order to explore its suitability for determining the state of order. The integrated intensity ratio of a superlattice reflection with respect to a fundamental reflection was measured as a function of the sample thickness and the results are well fitted by dynamical simulations. It is proposed that, in addition to conventional X-ray diffraction, PED may provide access to the state of order at microscopic and nanoscopic scales.

Keywords:

• precession electron diffraction
• state of order
• intermetallic Fe–40at.%Al

Acknowledgments

We thank Professor P.A. Stadelmann (CIME-EPFL, Switzerland) for facilitating helpful discussions. The TEM facility in Lille (France) is supported by the Conseil Regional du Nord-Pas de Calais and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).