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Integrative Atom Probe Tomography Using Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy-Centric Atom Placement as a Step Toward Atomic-Scale Tomography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2021

Anna V. Ceguerra Open the ORCID record for Anna V. Ceguerra [Opens in a new window] ,
Andrew J. Breen ,
Julie M. Cairney ,
Simon P. Ringer  and
Brian P. Gorman
Anna V. Ceguerra
Affiliation:
Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis (ACMM), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW2006, Australia School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering (AMME), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW2006, Australia
Andrew J. Breen
Affiliation:
Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis (ACMM), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW2006, Australia School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering (AMME), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW2006, Australia
Julie M. Cairney
Affiliation:
Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis (ACMM), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW2006, Australia School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering (AMME), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW2006, Australia
Simon P. Ringer
Affiliation:
Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis (ACMM), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW2006, Australia School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering (AMME), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW2006, Australia
Brian P. Gorman*
Affiliation:
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO80401, USA
*
*Author for correspondence: Brian Gorman, E-mail: bgorman@mines.edu
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Abstract

Current reconstruction methodologies for atom probe tomography (APT) contain serious geometric artifacts that are difficult to address due to their reliance on empirical factors to generate a reconstructed volume. To overcome this limitation, a reconstruction technique is demonstrated where the analyzed volume is instead defined by the specimen geometry and crystal structure as determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and diffraction acquired before and after APT analysis. APT data are reconstructed using a bottom-up approach, where the post-APT TEM image is used to define the substrate upon which APT detection events are placed. Transmission electron diffraction enables the quantification of the relationship between atomic positions and the evaporated specimen volume. Using an example dataset of ZnMgO:Ga grown epitaxially on c-plane sapphire, a volume is reconstructed that has the correct geometry and atomic spacings in 3D. APT data are thus reconstructed in 3D without using empirical parameters for the reverse projection reconstruction algorithm.

Keywords

atom probe tomographyintegrative microscopyintegrative reconstructionstem-centric atom placementtransmission electron microscopy
Type
Software and Instrumentation
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 27 , Issue 1 , February 2021 , pp. 140 - 148
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Microscopy Society of America

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