Atom probe analysis of titanium hydride precipitates

It is expected that the three-dimensional atom probe (3DAP) will be used as a tool to visualize the atomic scale of hydrogen atoms in steel is expected, due to its high spatial resolution and very low detection limit. In this paper, the first 3DAP analysis of titanium hydride precipitates in metal titanium is reported in terms of the quantitative detection of hydrogen. FIB fabrication techniques using the lift-out method have enabled the production of needle tips of hydride precipitates, of several tens of microns in size, within a titanium matrix. The hydrogen concentration estimated from 3DAP analysis was slightly smaller than that of the hydride phase predicted from the phase diagram. We discuss the origin of the difference between the experimental and predicted values and the performance of 3DAP for the quantitative detection of hydrogen.