Investigations on field-ion image formation and field evaporation sequences of DO3-ordered Fe3Al

The field-ion image formation of DO3-ordered Fe3Al was reinvestigated performing the atomic plane counting technique and the analysis of field evaporation sequences of different crystallographic plane sets with supporting atom probe microanalysis. For comparative studies a hypostoichiometric iron aluminide with B2 ordering was also imaged in the field-ion microscopy (FIM). The results show that Al atoms are the brightly imaging species. However, on DO3 superlattice plane sets, such as (222) and (226), iron atom layers have been imaged with atomic resolution. The B2-ordered iron aluminide does not exhibit prominent (222) and (226) poles in the FIM image. Video controlled field evaporation sequences of different atomic planes and image analysis lead to the conclusion that preferential field desorption of Fe atoms and the stronger field-ionization of Al atoms are the important mechanism for the formation of field-ion images of Fe3Al. The B2-ordered iron aluminide exhibits preferentially double layer field evaporation, and topmost Fe atom layers are not visible in the FIM.