The Influence of Experimental Parameters and Specimen Geometry on the Mass Spectra of Copper During Pulsed-Laser Atom-Probe Tomography

Published

November 12, 2014

Author(s)

Ratna P. Kolli, Frederick Meisenkothen

Abstract

We have studied the influence of experimental factors and specimen geometry on the quality of the mass spectra in copper (Cu) during pulsed-laser atom-probe tomography (APT). We have evaluated the effects of laser pulse energy, laser pulse frequency, specimen base temperature, specimen tip radius, and specimen tip shank half-angle on the effects of mass resolution, (m/Δm), at full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) and at full-width at tenth maximum (FWTM), the tail size after the major mass-to-charge state (m/n) ratio peaks, and the mass spectra. Our results indicate that mass resolution improves with decreasing pulse energy between 40 and 80 pJ and decreasing base temperature between 20 and 80 K. The mass resolution also improves with increasing tip radius and shank half-angle. A pulse frequency of 250 kHz improves the mass resolution relative to 100 or 500 kHz. The tail size decreases with increasing pulse energy. We illustrate that interaction effects between the experimental factors and specimen geometry influence the quality of the mass spectra. The mass resolution improves when the cooling time is reduced, which is influenced by the thermal diffusivity of Cu and the specimen base temperature.

Citation

Microscopy and Microanalysis

Volume

20

Issue

6

Pub Type

Journals

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DOI Link

Keywords

Copper, atom-probe tomography (APT), mass resolution, mass spectra, thermal diffusivity

Citation

Kolli, R. and Meisenkothen, F. (2014), The Influence of Experimental Parameters and Specimen Geometry on the Mass Spectra of Copper During Pulsed-Laser Atom-Probe Tomography, Microscopy and Microanalysis, [online], https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927614013488 (Accessed December 7, 2024)