Sub-micrometer synchrotron tomography of multiphase metals using Kirkpatrick-Baez optics

High-resolution three-dimensional (3-D) imaging of heterogeneous metals was performed by high-energy magnified synchrotron tomography using Kirkpatrick-Baez focusing optics, achieving voxel sizes of (50-60 nm)(3). Holotomographic reconstructions were created based on absorption and phase contrast. Microstructural features as small as similar to 180 nm were detected in ternary eutectic Al-Mg2Si-Si, SiC-particle-reinforced AlCu4, near-beta Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al, and in TiB-reinforced alpha + beta Ti-6Al-4V. The phase-retrieval procedure yielded enough contrast to segment the individual phases and analyze their shapes and 3-D architecture. (C) 2009 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.