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Understanding of Capping Effects on the Tip Shape Evolution and on the Atom Probe Data of Bulk LaAlO3 Using Transmission Electron Microscopy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 February 2017

Chang-Min Kwak ,
Young-Tae Kim ,
Chan-Gyung Park  and
Jae-Bok Seol
Chang-Min Kwak
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, POSTECH, Pohang 790-784, South Korea
Young-Tae Kim
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, POSTECH, Pohang 790-784, South Korea
Chan-Gyung Park
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, POSTECH, Pohang 790-784, South Korea National Institute for Nanomaterials Technology (NINT), POSTECH, Pohang 790-784, South Korea
Jae-Bok Seol*
Affiliation:
National Institute for Nanomaterials Technology (NINT), POSTECH, Pohang 790-784, South Korea
*
*Corresponding author. jb_seol@postech.ac.kr
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Abstract

Two challenges exist in laser-assisted atom probe tomography (APT). First, a drastic decline in mass-resolving power is caused, not only by laser-induced thermal effects on the APT tips of bulk oxide materials, but also the associated asymmetric evaporation behavior; second, the field evaporation mechanisms of bulk oxide tips under laser illumination are still unclear due to the complex relations between laser pulse and oxide materials. In this study, both phenomena were investigated by depositing Ni- and Co-capping layers onto the bulk LaAlO3 tips, and using stepwise APT analysis with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation of the tip shapes. By employing the metallic capping, the heating at the surface of the oxide tips during APT analysis became more symmetrical, thereby enabling a high mass-resolving power in the mass spectrum. In addition, the stepwise microscopy technique visualized tip shape evolution during APT analysis, thereby accounting for evaporation sequences at the tip surface. The combination of “capping” and “stepwise APT with TEM,” is applicable to any nonconductors; it provides a direct observation of tip shape evolution, allows determination of the field evaporation strength of oxides, and facilitates understanding of the effects of ultrafast laser illumination on an oxide tip.

Keywords

LaAlO3metallic cappingatom probe tomographytransmission electron microscopycorrelative analysis
Type
New Approaches and Correlative Microscopy
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 23 , Special Issue 2: Atom Probe Tomography & Microscopy 2016 , April 2017 , pp. 329 - 335
Copyright
© Microscopy Society of America 2017 

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