Darkfield collects the light that is scattered by roughness, cracks, pits, etch steps, or "ditches", etc. Hence, it is quite useful in the study of grain structures. Figure 5 shows the grain structure of Waspaloy, a nickel-based superalloy, in the solution annealed and double-aged heat treatment condition after etching with glyceregia.
Figure 5. Austenitic grain structure of a Waspaloy, a nickel-based superalloy, etched with glyceregia and viewed with (top) brightfield, with (middle) darkfield; and, with (bottom) differential interference contrast illumination. (IOOX)
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Figure 5 (top) shows the structure viewed with brightfield revealing a partially developed grain structure and some faint annealing twins (the faint parallel lines or bands within the grains). Figure 5 (middle) shows the same area viewed with darkfield illumination. Basically, the contrast is reversed, but all of the grain and twin boundaries are much more clearly revealed. Also, we see some coarse precipitates within the grains (the fine, white dots). Figure 5 (bottom) shows the same area examined with DIC which reveals the grain structure well. This shows how the etchant has produced selective dissolution to reveal the structure.
As a final example of the benefit of using alternate illumination modes,
Figure 6 shows the microstructure of eutectoid aluminum bronze (Cu - 11.8 wt. % Al) heat treated to form martensite.
As a final example of the benefit of using alternate illumination modes Figure 6 shows the microstructure of eutectoid aluminum bronze (Cu - 11.8 wt. % Al) heat treated to form martensite. This structure, in this alloy, is actually rather difficult to clearly reveal by etching and is revealed best using an as-polished specimen viewed with crossed-polarized light.
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