Estimates of the radii and solute concentrations of simulated microstructures containing ultrafine spherical precipitates were determined from isoconcentration surfaces and proximity histograms. The accuracy of the estimates of the solute concentrations and the radii of precipitates was found to depend on the size of precipitates. Optimized parameters for analyzing 0.5- to 2-nm-radius precipitates are proposed. The solute content of 0.5-nm-radius precipitates was not estimated correctly by this method. The accuracy of the estimates of the solute concentration and the radius of precipitates were primarily influenced by the solute concentrations of the precipitates. The ranges of error of the solute concentration in the precipitates, which are associated with the analytical limitations of the ultrafine precipitates, were determined, and the results indicated a limitation of the estimates.
Keywords: atom probe tomography; isoconcentration surface; nanocluster detection; proximity histogram; simulation.
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