High spatial resolution secondary ion imaging and secondary ion mass spectrometry of aluminium‐lithium alloys

Abstract
SUMMARY: Samples of aluminium‐lithium alloys have been observed by scanning ion microscopy and analysed by secondary ion mass spectrometry. The high signal‐to‐noise ratio of the positive secondary lithium ion opens up the possibility of both high resolution imaging and microanalysis of lithium distributions in aluminium and other materials. Some of the problems encountered due to sample preparation are discussed and ion images of both the artefacts and the true lithium distribution are shown.