Analytical electron microscopy study of new class material Cr₂AlC for coating applications at high temperature environments

The interactions between electron and specimens produce wide range of secondary signals from the specimen that can be used in analytical electron microscopy. These signals will give us chemical information and electronic structure information of specimen atoms. Two techniques which based on these secondary signals, X-rays energy-dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), are very powerful to be used for characterization materials. These two techniques are complementary each on the other. The former is very useful to quantify heavy elements and the other is very suitable to identify light elements as oxygen and carbon. In this report, we demonstrated the capability of these techniques to investigate microstructure evolution during the oxidation process of thin film Cr2AlC at 1320 °C. This thin film belongs to MAX phase, a new class material, and becomes a promising candidate for coating applications since it exhibits a good oxidation resistant.