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Energy-Filtering TEM Imaging of Zrb2/Sic Composite — An Ultrahigh Temperature Ceramic for Thermal Protection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

Huifang Xu  and
Jiangping Zhai
Huifang Xu
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Transmission Electron Microscopy, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA. E-mail: hfxu@unm.edu
Jiangping Zhai
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Transmission Electron Microscopy, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA. E-mail: hfxu@unm.edu
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Abstract

Ceramic of ZrB2 and its composite of the ceramics with SiC are used for ultrahigh temperature protection coatings in re-entry space vehicles because of high melting temperature of ZrB2 (3245°C). Chemical composition and microstructure of the ceramics are critical to thennal shock properties of the ceramics. Especially oxidation of boron and formation of boron oxide will degrade property of thermal resistance. Conventional TEM with Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) is unable to study light elements like boron. However, parallel-recorded electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and energy-filtering GIF system associated with field-emission gun (FEG) TEM are able to carry out chemical imaging and chemical information of light elements. Bonding structure and oxidation states of an element (such as B) can be obtained by using EELS.

Figure A is a zero-loss bright-field TEM image showing an interface between ZrB2 and SiC. Figure B is a Plasmon-loss filtered TEM image of the same area. A plasmon peak at about 20 eV was used for this image.

Type
Quantitative Transmission Electron Microscopy of Interfaces (Organized by M. Rüehle, Y. Zhu and U. Dahmen)
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 7 , Issue S2: Proceedings: Microscopy & Microanalysis 2001, Microscopy Society of America 59th Annual Meeting, Microbeam Analysis Society 35th Annual Meeting, Long Beach, California August 5-9, 2001 , August 2001 , pp. 262 - 263
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2001

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