Atom probe tomography at the University of Sydney

Summary: TheAustralianMicroscopy&MicroanalysisResearchFacility(AMMRF)
operates a national atom probe laboratory at The University of Sydney. This paper
provides a brief review and update of the technique of atom probe tomography (APT),
together with a summary of recent research applications at Sydney in the science
and technology of materials. We describe recent instrumentation advances such as
the use of laser pulsing to effect time-controlled field evaporation, the introduction
of wide field of view detectors, where the solid angle for observation is increased by
up to a factor of ∼20 as well as innovations in specimen preparation. We conclude
that these developments have opened APT to a range of new materials that were
previously either difficult or impossible to study using this technique because of their
poor conductivity or brittleness.