Electron tomography of lead nano-inclusions in aluminium

High-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopic tomography is a powerful technique that has been developed to characterize three-dimensional structures in materials science on a nanometer scale. We have applied this technique to investigations of Al-Pb composites containing 1 at.% Pb in the form of nanometer-sized inclusions. We present detailed tomographic analyses that reveal different three-dimensional morphologies of the Pb inclusions produced by high-energy ball milling. These results are discussed regarding the interface-controlled melting behavior of embedded inclusions