title: Study of changes in composition and EELS ionization edges upon Ni4Ti3 precipitation in a NiTi alloy.
abstract: Concentration gradients surrounding Ni4Ti3 precipitates grown by appropriate annealing in a Ni51Ti49 B2 austenite matrix are investigated by electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and energy filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM). Concentration gradients of approximately 1.0-2.0 at.% in Ni within the surrounding B2 matrix can be detected by both EELS and EFTEM, revealing a Ni depleted zone in the matrix. Besides the concentration gradients, the EELS integrated cross-section of the Ni L(2,3) edges for the Ni-depleted region increased slightly, when compared with a matrix region away from the precipitate and not depleted in Ni.
authors.affiliation: Electron Microscopy for Materials Science (EMAT), University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium. zhiqing.yang@ua.ac.be
authors.forename: Zhiqing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schryvers