A method for STEM tomography of nanocomposites with close-atomic number crystalline phases
Abstract A scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM)-based energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) tomography method is developed for accurate three-dimensional (3-D) visualization of nanoscale composite microstructures. This approach overcomes the limitations of conventional STEM tomography for microstructures containing crystalline phases with minimal difference in atomic numbers. The STEM-EDX tomography method was utilized to generate reliable 3-D reconstructions of nano-fibrous silicon (average diameter ≈ 30 nm) uniformly embedded in Aluminum matrix—a morphology previously ambiguous in two-dimensional microstructural characterization. Further validation has been done by local atom probe tomography reconstruction. Graphical abstract
Authors
- Arkajit Ghosh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7051-2672)
- Allen H. Hunter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1489-9809)
- Tao Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0579-8045)
- Amit Misra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0193-4257)
- Yi-Xiang Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5246-5497)
Institutions
- University of Nebraska–Lincoln (US)
- University of Michigan (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- MRS Communications
- Published
- 2026-03-31
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-026-00954-7
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Materials Characterization Techniques
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Office of Science
- Basic Energy Sciences