YAG-A12O3 directionally solidified eutectic composites show great promise in applications requiring high temperature strength and creep resistance.’ The orientation relationships between YAG and Al2O3 have been established within the composite by use of SEM Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The orientation relationships of were determined. Two related variants of A12O3 were discovered in the sample. EBSD was employed to determine the spatial distribution of the variants within the sample.
The microstructure of the eutectic composite, shown in Figure 1, reflects a “chinese script” pattern, neither lamellar nor fibrous. The directionally solidified eutectic fibers, approximately 2.5 mm in diameter, were cut into disks normal to the fiber axis by a diamond saw and polished by with diamond-imbedded paper to reduce chances of phase-preferential wear. Samples used for EBSD were ion milled for 30 minutes at low power and incident angle to improve the patterns.