There are two Atom Probe instruments available at Oxford for UK access through the Henry Royce Institute. These can offer unique insights into the microstructure of a wide range of materials.
Chemical analysis
Atom Probe Tomography is equally sensitive to all elements in the periodic table, with ppm sensitivity. This enables identification of trace levels of all species, and with sufficient resolution to distinguish isotopic effects.
3D Structural information
APT datasets contain tens to hundreds of millions of ions, producing a 3D reconstruction of all atomic positions, at a sub-nanometre resolution.
Site-specific specimen targeting
Needle-shaped specimens can be made using Focussed Ion Beam (FIB) tools, enabling key microstructural features to be located and extracted, for later APT analysis. This approach links 3D atomic-scale information with wider-view SEM/FIB analysis.
Link to applications note
