Effects of laser pulsing on analysis of steels by atom probe tomography

Fang Liu; Hans-Olof Andrén

doi:10.1016/j.ultramic.2010.12.012

Effects of laser pulsing on analysis of steels by atom probe tomography

Ultramicroscopy. 2011 May;111(6):633-41. doi: 10.1016/j.ultramic.2010.12.012. Epub 2010 Dec 19.

Authors

Fang Liu¹, Hans-Olof Andrén

Affiliation

¹ Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, 41296 Gothenburg, Sweden. fang.liu@chalmers.se

PMID: 21239116
DOI: 10.1016/j.ultramic.2010.12.012

Abstract

When performing atom probe tomography analysis, laser pulsing was found very helpful for some types of steels, which are prone to premature sample failure under voltage pulsing. Rather accurate chemical compositions for both matrix and precipitates were obtained by voltage- and laser-pulsed mode. Some special issues on the effects of laser are discussed. A simple correction based on the (13)C(n+) and (10)B(n+) peak was used to quantify C in the carbide (M(23)C(6), M = Fe, Cr, Mo) and B in the boride (M(3)B(2), M = Mo, Fe, Cr, V). The mass resolution in laser mode is sufficient to resolve (56)Fe(2+) and (14)N(2)(1+) at 28Da. Small peak shifts were found in the spectrum due to reflectron aberrations.