Reconstruction of Stress and Composition Profiles from X-Ray Diffraction Experiments — How to Avoid Ghost Stresses?

On evaluating lattice strain-depth or stress-depth profiles with X-ray diffraction, the variation of the information depth while combining various tilt angles, in combination with lattice spacing gradients leads to artefacts, so-called ghost or fictitious stresses. X-ray diffraction lattice-strain analysis was simulated for a model stress-depth profile combined with a composition-depth profile. Two principally different methods were investigated for the reconstruction of the actual stress and composition profiles from the simulated data: - considering the stress/strain determined at a specific depth as a weighted average over the actual stress/strain depth profile - considering the lattice spacing determined at a specific depth, for a specific value for as a weighted average over the actual lattice spacing profile for this direction. On the basis of the results it is possible to propose a preferred method for the evaluation of stress/strain and composition profiles, while minimising the risk for ghost stresses.