| AVS 60th International Symposium and Exhibition | |
| Atom Probe Tomography Focus Topic | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session AP+AS+EM+MI+TF-WeM |
| Session: | APT Analysis of Semiconductor, Magnetic, and Oxide Materials |
| Presenter: | H.G. Francois-Saint-Cyr, CAMECA Instruments, Inc. |
| Authors: | H.G. Francois-Saint-Cyr, CAMECA Instruments, Inc. R. Ulfig, CAMECA Instruments, Inc. J. Valley, University of Wisconsin, Madison T. Ushikubo, University of Wisconsin, Madison M. Miller, Oak Ridge National Laboratory H. Takamizawa, Tohoku University, Japan Y. Shimizu, Tohoku University, Japan L. Gordon, Northwestern University D. Joester, Northwestern University A. Giddings, CAMECA Instruments, Inc. D. Reinhard, CAMECA Instruments, Inc. D. Lawrence, CAMECA Instruments, Inc. P. Clifton, CAMECA Instruments, Inc. D. Larson, CAMECA Instruments, Inc. |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
The second revolution in atom probe tomography (APT), mainly due to the pursuit of sophisticated laser pulsed modes and focused ion beam based sample preparation, has broadened the range of new applications benefiting from three-dimensional, sub-nanometer compositional information [1]. Novel applications include dopant distribution analysis in metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor, geological dating of zircon crystals, quantum dot (QD) assembly growth in Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs), analysis of biological materials, and nano-scale phase behavior of metallic glasses using the LEAP 4000X®.
Elemental mapping from APT allows threshold voltage in 65 nm-node n-MOS transistors to be successfully correlated with the channel dopant concentration [2]. In geology, precipitates containing Y and Pb are visualized after APT reconstruction of zircon crystals and helped understanding the thermal history and mechanisms of mineral reaction, mineral exchange and radiation damage. Data analysis shows that 207Pb/206Pb ratios for nm-scale domains (<2x 104 atoms Pb) average 0.17±0.04 and 0.43±0.14 for 2.4 and 4.0 Ga zircons respectively [3], in agreement with SIMS ratios (0.1684 and 0.4269) derived from much larger analysis volumes (hundreds of μm3 (10-16 m3)). In the pillar arrangement of the Quantum Dots (QDs), as imaged in InAs/GaAs multi-layers, the strain field from one QD layer influences the growth of subsequent layers, although the apparent helical distribution has never previously been reported [4]. In biology, spatially organized collagen fibers in the dentin of elephant tusks have been unveiled. Three-dimensional imaging of apatite-derived calcium and phosphate species, inorganic substituents, and carbon/nitrogen containing fragments of organic macromolecules sheds some light on the source of strength for these materials [5]. Metallic glass Fe76C7.0Si3.3B5.0P8.7Cu0.7 used for low-cost transformer applications shows phase separation into a -Fe precipitates, ultrafine spheroidal e -Cu-rich precipitates, silicon-depleted Fe3(P,B,C), and Fe3C after annealing for 30 minutes at 729 K [6].
1. T. F. Kelly and D. J. Larson, Annual Reviews of Materials Research 42 (2012) 1.
2. H. Takamizawa et al., Applied Physics Letters 100 (2012) 253504.
3. J. W. Valley et al., Abstracts American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting (2012) V12A-05.
4. A. D. Giddings et al., Phys. Rev. B 83 (2011) 205308.
5. L. M. Gordon, L. Tran and D. Joester, ACS Nano 6(12) 2012 10667.
Part of this research was sponsored by ORNL’s Shared Research Equipment (ShaRE) User Facility, which is sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, US Department of Energy.