  We report on a newly developed scanning positron microbeam based on threefold
moderation of positrons provided by the high intensity positron source NEPOMUC.
For brightness enhancement a remoderation unit with a $100\,$nm thin Ni(100)
foil and 9.6% efficiency is applied to reduce the area of the beam spot by a
factor of 60. In this way, defect spectroscopy is enabled with a lateral
resolution of $33\,\mu$m over a large scanning range of $19\times19\,$mm$^{2}$.
Moreover, 2D defect imaging using Doppler broadening spectroscopy (DBS) is
demonstrated to be performed within exceptional short measurement times of less
than two minutes for an area of $1\times1$mm$^{2}$ ($100\times100\,\mu$m$^{2}$)
with a resolution of $250\,\mu$m ($50\,\mu$m). We studied the defect structure
in laser beam welds of the high-strength agehardened Al alloy (AlCu6Mn, EN
AW-2219 T87) by applying (coincident) DBS with unprecedented spatial
resolution. The visualization of the defect distribution revealed a sharp
transition between the raw material and the welded zone as well as a very small
heat affected zone. Vacancy-like defects and Cu rich precipitates are detected
in the as-received material and, to a lesser extent, in the transition zone of
the weld. Most notably, in the center of the weld vacancies without forming
Cu-vacancy complexes, and the dissolution of the Cu atoms in the crystal
lattice, i.e. formation of a supersaturated solution, could be clearly
identified.
