Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), often in its non-imaging manifestation, is a powerful analytical technique that has found numerous applications in the semiconductor, geochemistry and organic chemistry industries. Given its strengths, which often complement those of traditional electron-probe-based analyses, it is surprising that SIMS has not found a larger clientele among Researchers studying engineered and biological materials. To illustrate the power of high-spatial-resolution SIMS for the investigation of advanced materials, we summarize a series of experiments examining the microstructure and microchemistry of alloys reinforced with ceramic fibers. The goals of this presentation are twofold: first, to notify the scientific community about the capabilities of imaging SIMS; and second, to elevate (hopefully) the study of metal-matrix composites via SIMS from an important but obscure engineering pursuit to a thriving profession. The principal advantages of the SIMS technique for this study are i) polished, bulk samples can be analyzed (i.e. thinning is not required); ii) the distribution of most elements and isotopes can be measured with submicrometer resolution; iii) the signal-to-noise is very good (essentially no background).
Corrosion Properties of Advanced Materials like Aluminium 6013 Metal Matrix Composites Reinforced with Red Mud Particulates in Acid Chloride Medium
