Atom probe tomography observation of hydrogen in high-Mn steel and silver charged via an electrolytic route

• Deuterium charging via electrolytic methods in APT is investigated.
• In Fe–Mn deuterium is identified in APT, without cryo transfer in the mass spectrum.
• In an Ag coating, deuterium can be imaged spatially using APT.
• Sample yield is seen to increase as a function of vacuum holding time.

We investigate an electrolytic route for hydrogen charging of metals and its detection in Atom Probe Tomography (APT) experiments. We charge an austenitic Fe-30Mn-8Al-1.2C (wt.%) weight reduced high-Mn steel and subsequently demonstrate the detectability of deuterium in an APT experiment. The experiment is repeated with a deposited Ag film upon an APT tip of a high-Mn steel. It is shown that a detectable deuterium signal can be seen in the high-Mn steel, and a D:H ratio of 0.84 can be reached in Ag films. Additionally, it was found that the predicted time constraint on detectability of D in APT was found to be lower than predicted by bulk diffusion for the high-Mn steel.