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

doi:10.1016/j.ultramic.2019.04.005

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

SAMS UHI

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

37 Citations (Scopus)

113 Downloads (Pure)

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 language	English
Pages (from-to)	121-127
Number of pages	7
Journal	Ultramicroscopy
Volume	202
Early online date	18 Apr 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultramic.2019.04.005
Publication status	Published - 1 Jul 2019

Keywords

Atom probe tomography
Focussed ion beam
Sample preparation

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10.1016/j.ultramic.2019.04.005Licence: CC BY

1-s2.0-S0304399119300579-mainFinal published version, 2.36 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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

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.",

keywords = "Atom probe tomography, Focussed ion beam, Sample preparation",

author = "Halpin, \{J. E.\} and Webster, \{R. W.H.\} and H. Gardner and Moody, \{M. P.\} and Bagot, \{P. A.J.\} and MacLaren, \{D. A.\}",

note = "Funding Information: The Glasgow Xe-plasma FIB is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of the United Kingdom (EPSRC) under grant EP/P001483/1 and some of the work outlined here was conducted under EPSRC grant EP/N017218/1 . The Oxford Atom Probe facility is also EPSRC funded, by grant EP/M022803/1 . We gratefully acknowledge Adam Pilchak ( Air Force Research Laboratory , Wright Patterson) and Chris Collins ( Imperial College London ) for supplying the additional Ti-alloy materials used in Fig. 5 . {\textcopyright} 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. CC-BY The author was not affiliated to SAMS at the time of publication",

year = "2019",

month = jul,

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doi = "10.1016/j.ultramic.2019.04.005",

language = "English",

volume = "202",

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journal = "Ultramicroscopy",

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AU - Halpin, J. E.

AU - Webster, R. W.H.

AU - Gardner, H.

AU - Moody, M. P.

AU - Bagot, P. A.J.

AU - MacLaren, D. A.

N1 - Funding Information: The Glasgow Xe-plasma FIB is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of the United Kingdom (EPSRC) under grant EP/P001483/1 and some of the work outlined here was conducted under EPSRC grant EP/N017218/1 . The Oxford Atom Probe facility is also EPSRC funded, by grant EP/M022803/1 . We gratefully acknowledge Adam Pilchak ( Air Force Research Laboratory , Wright Patterson) and Chris Collins ( Imperial College London ) for supplying the additional Ti-alloy materials used in Fig. 5 . © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. CC-BY The author was not affiliated to SAMS at the time of publication

PY - 2019/7/1

Y1 - 2019/7/1

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Atom probe tomography

KW - Focussed ion beam

KW - Sample preparation

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85064344208

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85064344208#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1016/j.ultramic.2019.04.005

DO - 10.1016/j.ultramic.2019.04.005

M3 - Article

C2 - 31005819

AN - SCOPUS:85064344208

SN - 0304-3991

VL - 202

SP - 121

EP - 127

JO - Ultramicroscopy

JF - Ultramicroscopy

ER -

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

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Keywords

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