Investigation of interfacial segregation at antiphase boundaries in a ternary alloy 84.8Ni–12.8Al–2.4Ta

A thin interphase layer (∼4 nm) between the merging γ′ precipitates in a chosen model alloy 84.8Ni–12.8Al–2.4Ta was investigated. It is demonstrated that interfacial segregation may occur at an antiphase boundary (APB) interface between the thin layer and one of the merging γ′ precipitates. The magnitude of the lattice displacement (about 1/10[010]) caused by interfacial segregation has been measured both by comparing experimental images with computer simulations, and from high resolution electron microscopy (HREM) fringe spacings using linear regressional analysis. These measurements show a consistent lattice spacing reduction across the APB. Image simulations also highlight the way that the contrast of the bounding partial dislocation affects the APB interface image and can be used to obtain the lattice shift across the interface when the segregation effects on α-fringe contrast are significant.