HREM, FIM and tomographic atom probe investigation of Guinier–Preston zones in an Al–1.54 at% Cu alloy

An investigation of Guinier–Preston zones in Al–1.54 at% Cu alloy annealed for 30 h at 100°C was carried out on the same monocrystal with complementary techniques of high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) and tomographic atom probe-field ion microscopy (TAP-FIM). HREM results show that majority of GP1 zones are monolayers 1–9 nm in size. However, some GP2 zones and particles in an intermediate state of growth between GP1 and GP2 stage were also found. From TAP results it follows that GP1 zones with different Cu concentrations ranging from 40% up to 100% Cu coexist. The residual solid solution is very heterogeneous. In the vicinity of GP particles the Cu content in the matrix falls down to zero, the solid solution in other regions contains from 0.7 to 1 at% Cu.