Publications
Prof. Zonghoon Lee’s Atomic-Scale Electron Microscopy Lab
Publications
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Publications in Nature | Science | their sister journals
Nature 2024 / Nature Communications, 14:4747, 2023 / Nature Communications, 13:4916, 2022 / Nature Communications, 13:2759, 2022 / Nature, 596, 519-524, 2021 / Nature, 582, 511-514, 2020 / Nature Nanotechnology, 15, 289-295, 2020 / Nature Nanotechnology, 15, 59-66, 2020 / Science Advances, 6 (10), eaay4958, 2020 / Nature Electronics, 3, 207-215, 2020 / Nature Communications, 11 (1437), 2020 / Nature Energy, 3, 773-782, 2018 / Nature Communications, 8:1549, 2017 / Nature Communications, 6:8294, 2015 / Nature Communications, 6:7817, 2015 / Nature Communications, 5:3383, 2014
Abstract
We have characterized the nanoscale mechanical properties of grain boundary precipitate-free zones (PFZ's) in an AlCuSiGe alloy, using combined nanoindentation and in-situ atomic force microscopy (AFM). These mechanical properties were then correlated to the composition, precipitate distribution and, indirectly, to the vacancy concentration within these regions, as analyzed by transmission electron microscopy and spectroscopy. Using these results we constructed a structure-zone map of the area adjacent to the grain boundary, which relates the reduced elastic modulus and nanoindentation hardness of the alloy to its graded microstructure. Our analysis indicates that the lowest hardness was found in the region where no precipitates are present at all, regardless of solute concentration. In regions where precipitation is different from that of the bulk, somewhat inferior mechanical properties are achieved.