title: Atomically ordered solute segregation behaviour in an oxide grain boundary.
abstract: Grain boundary segregation is a critical issue in materials science because it determines the properties of individual grain boundaries and thus governs the macroscopic properties of materials. Recent progress in electron microscopy has greatly improved our understanding of grain boundary segregation phenomena down to atomistic dimensions, but solute segregation is still extremely challenging to experimentally identify at the atomic scale. Here, we report direct observations of atomic-scale yttrium solute segregation behaviours in an yttria-stabilized-zirconia grain boundary using atomic-resolution energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis. We found that yttrium solute atoms preferentially segregate to specific atomic sites at the core of the grain boundary, forming a unique chemically-ordered structure across the grain boundary.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Engineering Innovation, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4306-2979
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Adaptive Machine System, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yokoi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Engineering Innovation, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
authors.forename: Akihito
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Adaptive Machine System, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.|Nanostructures Research Laboratory, Japan Fine Ceramics Center, Nagoya 456-8587, Japan.
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshiya
authors.affiliation: Institute of Engineering Innovation, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.|Nanostructures Research Laboratory, Japan Fine Ceramics Center, Nagoya 456-8587, Japan.|WPI advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ikuhara
authors.affiliation: Institute of Engineering Innovation, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shibata