Sub-micrometer synchrotron tomography of multiphase metals using Kirkpatrick–Baez optics

High-resolution three-dimensional (3-D) imaging of heterogeneous metals was performed by high-energy magnified synchrotron tomography using Kirkpatrick–Baez focusing optics, achieving voxel sizes of (50–60 nm)3. Holotomographic reconstructions were created based on absorption and phase contrast. Microstructural features as small as ∼180 nm were detected in ternary eutectic Al–Mg2Si–Si, SiC-particle-reinforced AlCu4, near-β Ti–10V–2Fe–3Al, and in TiB-reinforced α + β Ti–6Al–4V. The phase-retrieval procedure yielded enough contrast to segment the individual phases and analyze their shapes and 3-D architecture.