title: X-ray nanotomography and focused-ion-beam sectioning for quantitative three-dimensional analysis of nanocomposites.
abstract: Knowing the relationship between three-dimensional structure and properties is paramount for complete understanding of material behavior. In this work, the internal nanostructure of micrometer-size (∼10 µm) composite Ni/Al particles was analyzed using two different approaches. The first technique, synchrotron-based X-ray nanotomography, is a nondestructive method that can attain resolutions of tens of nanometers. The second is a destructive technique with sub-nanometer resolution utilizing scanning electron microscopy combined with an ion beam and `slice and view' analysis, where the sample is repeatedly milled and imaged. The obtained results suggest that both techniques allow for an accurate characterization of the larger-scale structures, while differences exist in the characterization of the smallest features. Using the Monte Carlo method, the effective resolution of the X-ray nanotomography technique was determined to be ∼48 nm, while focused-ion-beam sectioning with `slice and view' analysis was ∼5 nm.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Shuck
authors.affiliation: Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA.
authors.forename: Mathew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frazee
authors.affiliation: Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gillman
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Beason
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Ibrahim Emre
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: Gunduz
authors.affiliation: Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA.
authors.forename: Karel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matouš
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Winarski
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Mukasyan
keywords: X-ray nanotomography; nanocomposite powder; quantitative image analysis; scanning electron microscopy; three-dimensional reconstruction