The influence of spin-misalignment scattering on the SANS data evaluation of martensitic age-hardening steels

Small-angle neutron scattering has proved to be a valuable technique for probing precipitates in steels. The investigated sample is thereby exposed to a large magnetic field and is assumed to consist of a single domain with all the magnetic moments perfectly aligned with the external field. In this situation the dominating magnetic scattering contrast is expected to stem from the differences between the magnetization values of matrix and particles. However, the present work shows that strong additional scattering can be present which is due to spin misalignment. The effects of this spin-misalignment scattering are discussed as being exemplary for differently heat-treated martensitic steel samples. It is revealed that the amount of spin-misalignment scattering is very sensitive to the applied heat treatment and is most pronounced in the as-quenched condition. In particular, when considering nuclear scattering curves the influence of spin-misalignment scattering may be very large and must not be neglected.