Correlative TEM and 3DAP analysis enables nanoscale elemental distributions around defects, such as dislocations, to be revealed. For example, this approach was applied to a newly developed bake-hardenable magnesium alloy, revealing that its enhanced strength originates from precipitation strengthening by dispersed solute clusters and dislocation immobilization through solute segregation to dislocation cores.

3DAP is a technique that reconstructs the three-dimensional distribution of elements with sub-nanometer spatial resolution. Since atomic species are identified by time-of-flight mass spectrometry, 3DAP can, in principle, detect all elements, including hydrogen. However, detecting trace amounts of hydrogen at the ppm level that enter from the environment and cause phenomena such as hydrogen embrittlement has been challenging. By introducing deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, into specimens as a tracer, a method has been established to visualize the three-dimensional distribution of trace hydrogen at the nanoscale. This approach enables direct observation of local hydrogen distributions within materials and provides insights into how hydrogen affects material properties.