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Atom-Probe Tomography – Different Analysis Tools for Three-Dimensional Atomic-Resolution Data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2018

Robert M. Ulfig*
Affiliation:
Imago Scientific Instruments Corporation, Madison WI
David J. Larson
Affiliation:
Imago Scientific Instruments Corporation, Madison WI
David A. Reinhard
Affiliation:
Imago Scientific Instruments Corporation, Madison WI
Thomas F. Kelly
Affiliation:
Imago Scientific Instruments Corporation, Madison WI

Extract

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Like no other microscopy technique, atom-probe tomography (APT) requires detailed data analysis algorithms specific to the knowledge desired, as the data are both complex due to their three-dimensional nature and can only be collected in a digital format. With recent increases in speed and field of view available in contemporary instruments like the Imago Scientific Instruments LEAP™ microscopes, these challenges and significant benefits are exacerbated. In practice, ‘data collection’ in APT, as understood in complementary techniques like scanning electron microscopy (SEM) or transmission electron microscopy (TEM), does not even begin until after the atom-probe experiment is over and the microscopist leaves the laboratory. The sample is prepared into the appropriate needle-shaped geometry, field evaporated atom by atom, and the ‘experiment’ part of the specimen analysis is over as soon as the ions are detected and stored in a digital file.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2008

References

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