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Atom-Probe Field Ion Microscopy Tien T. Tsong (Cambridge University Press, 1990, 250 pages). ISBN: 0-521-36379-9 The field ion microscope (FIM), invented by Erwin W. Miiller in 1951, allowed for the first time the observation of solid surfaces with atomic resolution. However, the problem related to the chemical nature of imaged atoms remained. With the introduction of atom-probe techniques (AP-FM) in 1967 by the designer of both the field emission and field ionization microscopes, the atoms that one can image by field ion microscopy could be identified individually and unambiguously. The invention of this new quantitative microanalysis tool with high spatial resolution opened new application areas in materials science as well as in solid-state physics. Both FTM and atom-probe can now be used to image and analyze a large variety of materials, including metallic alloys, semiconductors, or even high-temperature superconductors. This book, written by one of the pioneers in field ion microscopy, is intended for scientists interested in field emission physics and materials science. As compared to the recent books of M.K. Miller and G.D.W. Smith,1 T. Sakurai, S. Sakai, and H.W. Pickering,2 or that of R. Wagner,3 the applications detailed here are essentially focused toward surface science. Special attention is given also to the basic physical mechanisms involved in FIM atom-probe techniques. The choice of subjects reflects the author's own research and personal interest. For instance, almost 100 pages of the book are devoted to the various theories of field ionization, field evaporation, field adsorption and desorption, and field dissoci-
ation. In the same way, a large part of the applications are related to the atomic structure of surfaces and to the behavior of migrating atoms on solid surfaces, while few illustrations or results are given in physical metallurgy. The monograph is organized around five main chapters. The first section describes the fundamentals of field ion emission phenomena as well as the basic principles of techniques. As compared to the previous book written by Miiller and Tsong4 in 1969, the basic theories of field evaporation (image-hump and chargeexchange models) have been complemented with new models or emerging theories including post-ionization concepts. Photon-stimulated field desorption and atomic tunnelling processes in field dissociation are also discussed. The end of this first chapter relates to the classical but crucial problems of field ion image formation such as resolution and magnification. Since the invention of the atom-probe, many innovative improvements to the initial instrument have been made. New types of apparatus (i.e., pulsed laser atomprobe, imaging atom-probe, and energycompensated time-of-flight mass spectrometer) then followed. More recently, a new generation of threedimensional atom-probes was designed.5 Chapter 2 provides experimental details related to these new aspects and to the basic problems of specimen preparation or image interpretation. Very little attention
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