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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: GR/R07455/01
Title: The Influence of Radiation Damage On Stem Chemical Microanalysis
Principal Investigator: Bacon, Professor DJ
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: School of Engineering
Organisation: University of Liverpool
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 19 November 2001 Ends: 18 November 2004 Value (£): 157,191
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Materials Characterisation
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
GR/R18468/01
Panel History:
Panel DatePanel NameOutcome
26 Oct 2000 Structural Materials Deferred
Summary on Grant Application Form
In STEM chemical microanalysis an intense electron beam is passed through a thin specimen and the x-rays excited or the energy losses in the electron beam are monitored and converted to a chemical composition. The electron beam can be reduced to 0.5nm and chemical analysis on this scale is therefore possible. Above a certain (fairly low) beam voltage the electron beam sputters atoms from the surface of the specimen. The lighter atoms are sputtered preferentially, which changes the apparent chemical composition. It has recently been shown that the preferentiality itself varies around secondary defects like grain boundaries, which give apparent segregation profiles where none really exists.In this project the surface sputtering in Ni3Al will be modelled at Liverpool by a PDRA using molecular dynamics and parallel experiments will be performed at Birmingham by a PGRS. The calculation and experiments will involve: (i) predicting surface sputtering and composition changes, (ii) investigating differential sputtering across antiphase domain boundaries and grain boundaries, (iii) investigating the effect of carbon and gold caps on the surface and (iv) developing a strategy for managing this problem.
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Organisation Website: http://www.liv.ac.uk