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Microstructural Investigations in Metals Using Atom Probe Tomography with a Novel Specimen-Electrode Geometry

  • 3D Nanoscale Characterization of Metals, Minerals, and Materials
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Abstract

A new atom probe design is presented along with data showing spectral performance and selected microstructural characterization examples. The instrument includes a curved reflectron, a 532-nm laser, and an integrated, fixed-position, counter electrode in a configuration with moderate electric field enhancement that includes improvements in ease of use and cost of ownership. Both voltage-pulsed and laser-pulsed performance is shown for a variety of materials including Al, Si, W, 316 stainless steel, Inconel 718, and GaN. Characterization of grain boundaries and phase boundaries, including correlation with transmission electron backscatter diffraction results in Inconel 718, is shown. A detailed case study of the resultant microstructure between laser-beam and electron-beam additive manufacturing paths in Inconel 718 is also presented.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the entire team at the CAMECA Atom Probe Technology Center in Madison, WI. This article has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The U.S. government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this article, or allow others to do so, for U.S. government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan). Authors with a CAMECA affiliation acknowledge a financial conflict of interest with respect to the topic of this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAMECA Instruments Inc., Madison, WI, 53711, USA

    David J. Larson, Robert M. Ulfig, Dan R. Lenz, Joseph H. Bunton, Jeff D. Shepard, Timothy R. Payne, Katherine P. Rice, Yimeng Chen, Ty J. Prosa, Dan J. Rauls & Thomas F. Kelly

  2. Material Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830, USA

    Niyanth Sridharan & Suresh Babu

  3. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA

    Suresh Babu

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  1. David J. Larson
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  2. Robert M. Ulfig
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  9. Ty J. Prosa
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Correspondence to Robert M. Ulfig.

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Larson, D.J., Ulfig, R.M., Lenz, D.R. et al. Microstructural Investigations in Metals Using Atom Probe Tomography with a Novel Specimen-Electrode Geometry. JOM 70, 1776–1784 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-018-2982-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-018-2982-1

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