X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy of galvannealed coatings on steel

The formation of Fe-Zn intermetallic compounds, as relevant in the commercial product galvannealed steel sheet, was investigated by scanning electron microscopy and different methods of X-ray diffraction. A scanning electron microscope with high resolution was applied to investigate the layers of the galvannealed coating and its topography. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GID) was preferred over conventional Bragg-Brentano geometry for analysing thin crystalline layers because of its lower incidence angle alpha and its lower depth of information. Furthermore, in situ experiments at an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) with an internal heating plate and at an X-ray diffractometer equipped with a high-temperature chamber were carried out. Thus, it was possible to investigate the phase evolution during heat treatment by X-ray diffraction and to display the growth of the zeta crystals in the ESEM.