Early stages of oxide precipitation in Ag–0.42at.%–Mg—examined with the tomographic atom probe

Oxide particles can be formed in metals by the internal oxidation of binary alloys. Due to their potential in industrial applications, several studies were performed to clarify the structure and chemistry of the metal/oxide interface. Previous work has been limited to the investigation of large oxide precipitates. In this work, extended experiments on the initial stages of internal oxidation in Ag–0.42at.%–Mg alloy are described, in which the oxide particle diameter is in the nanometer range. The tomographic atom-probe was used as a spatially high-resolution device, which enables chemical characterization of features on the atomic scale. The results are explained qualitatively in terms of the phase-separation of metallic systems.