Advances in atom probe tomography instrumentation: Implications for materials research
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Introduction
Key advances in instrumental design
The last decade has seen an unprecedented proliferation of the microscopy technique of atom probe tomography (APT). It is now considered an indispensable materials characterization tool in materials research labs around the world. A cursory survey of the literature shows that between 2005 and 2014, there was a tripling of the annual number of publications reporting work underpinned by APT characterization. Furthermore, over this same period, the yearly citation rate of APT-related articles increased by a factor of seven. This is a simple metric; however, it is indicative of the rapidly increasing impact of APT on an increasingly broad range of materials research.1 A number of factors have contrived to realize this increasing interest in the technique. However, key advances in instrumentation have been at the vanguard of what has been described as the “second revolution of atom probe.”2 Novel instrument design underpinned by maturation of electronics, computing, and laser technologies have led to instruments with increasing capabilities, and in turn, have rapidly widened the scope of applications.
The key instrument advances that contributed to the initial renaissance in APT have been covered in more detail in previous reviews3,4 and recent books.5–7 However, given their enduring influence, they are introduced here in brief. The advent of laser pulsing in the commercial atom probe is possibly the technique’s most influential instrumental advancement in the last decade. It has been the key to opening up APT to a much broader range of applications. Laser-pulsing technology has continued to develop, and in the process, has made the atom probe into an increasingly powerful characterization tool. The overwhelming majority of atom probe instruments today are based on a local electrode geometry.8 In this configuration, the specimen is aligned in very close proximity to the counter electrode such that ions field-evaporated from the tip apex are projected directly through an aperture in the electrode and onto the position-sensitive detectors (PSDs). This design reduces the voltage required for the field evaporation of atoms and provides improved mass resolution and a wider field-of-view. Lower voltages also enable a significant
Michael P. Moody, Department of Materials, University of Oxford, UK; [email protected] Angela Vella, Groupe de Physique des Matériaux, Université et INSA de Rouen, Normandie University, France; [email protected] Stephan S.A. Gerstl, Scientific Center for Optical and Electron Microscopy, ETH Zürich, Switzerland; [email protected] Paul A.J. Bagot, Department of Materials, University of Oxford, UK; [email protected] DOI: 10.1557/mrs.2015.311
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MRS BULLETIN • VOLUME 41 • JANUARY 2016 • www.mrs.org/bulletin
© 2016 Materials Research Society
ADVANCES IN ATOM PROBE TOMOGRAPHY INSTRUMENTATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR MATERIALS RESEARCH
increase in pulse repetition, and hence the rate of data that can expanded its appl
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