Quantitative atom probe tomography characterization of microstructures in a proton irradiated 304 stainless steel

Irradiation of 304 stainless steels induces complex microstructural changes such as solute clustering, precipitation, and segregation to dislocations, which have been best characterized by atom probe tomography. However, reliably and reproducibly quantifying these localized chemical changes can be challenging. To this end, an approach for quantitative cluster and dislocation analysis of the atom probe tomography data is proposed. The method is applied to the quantification of Cu clusters, Ni–Si rich clusters and Si, Ni and P segregation to dislocations that are observed in a 304 stainless steel that was proton irradiated at 360 °C to 10 dpa.