A new nano-scale surface marking technique for the deformation analysis of Mg-based alloys

In this work a new nanoscale surface marking technique, namely electron beam damage induced surface marking (EBDISM), is developed and tested for the first time on a fine-grained pure Mg surface. This technique utilizes focused high-energy electron beam of a scanning electron microscope to “burn” dense arrays of nano-scale grid patterns on the sample surface, and it is proved to be very effective for identifying and measuring localised deformation behaviours. However, the surface marking deposited by EBDISM is not permanent and it tends to deteriorate overtime. Cheap, easy to use and versatile, the EBDISM technique has a huge potential for quantitative measurement of strain field and nano-scale deformation analysis.