High Kinetic Energy Atom Probe : A 3D Nano-analytic microscope with molecular and kinetic energy discrimination – Hi-KEAP

The energy discrimination of ions received on the atom probe position sensitive detector is considered as the Holy Grail in the development of this nanoanalysis technique. Indeed, the use of kinetic energy information must make it possible to remove the degenerations induced by interferences in mass spectra. These interferences drastically limit the quality of composition measurements for covalent/ionic materials. This project proposes the development of a new generation of atom probe, with a detector having a sufficient resolution in kinetic energy. The developed APT prototype will also allow a significant increase in the performance of the instrument in terms of mass resolution and detection yield.A simulation study of the detector, and an experimental study on model materials containing carbon and nitrogen will be carried out to validate the instrument.