Speaker
Description
Detecting and quantifying excess vacancies in materials remains a significant challenge in materials science, as these vacancies are critical in accelerating phase transitions but have been difficult to measure accurately. Traditional methods, such as Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy (PAS), are limited by detection thresholds around 10^-7. To overcome these limitations, we have developed a novel approach utilizing Atom Probe Tomography (APT) to measure diffusivity enhancements, thereby enabling the detection and quantification of vacancy supersaturation. By incorporating a cryogenic microstructure freezing and sample preparation technique, we characterized the evolution of spinodal decomposition to more effectively capture the impact of vacancy oversaturation on diffusion-driven phase transitions. This advancement holds substantial promise for industrial applications, where harnessing vacancy-enhanced phase transitions could lead to significant breakthroughs in material design and optimization.
