An in-situ approach for preparing atom probe tomography specimens by xenon plasma-focussed ion beam

J. E. Halpin, R. W.H. Webster, H. Gardner, M. P. Moody, P. A.J. Bagot, D. A. MacLaren

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

A method for the rapid preparation of atom probe tomography (APT) needles using a xenon plasma-focussed ion beam (FIB) instrument is presented and demonstrated on a test sample of Ti-6Al-4V alloy. The method requires significantly less operator input than the standard lift-out protocol, is site-specific and produces needles with minimal ion-beam damage; electron microscopy indicated the needle's surface amorphised/oxidised region to be less than 2 nm thick. The resulting needles were routinely analysable by APT, confirming the expected microstructure and showing negligible Xe contamination.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)121-127
Number of pages7
JournalUltramicroscopy
Volume202
Early online date18 Apr 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2019

Keywords

  • Atom probe tomography
  • Focussed ion beam
  • Sample preparation

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