89 results about "Atom probe" patented technology

The invention provides a Cu-Ni-Sn-P alloy sheet satisfying the resistance property of stress relaxation in the direction perpendicular to the rolling direction and excellent in the other necessary properties as terminals and connectors. The invention relates to analloy sheet having a specific composition, which is made to contain specific atomic clusters containing at least any of an Ni atom or a P atom, as detected with a three-dimensional atom probe field ion microscope, in a specific density, by increasing the reduction ratio in the final cold rolling and by intentionally shortening the time for the rolling and the time to be taken before the final annealing at low temperature, and of which the necessary properties as a terminal or connector 3 are improved in that the resistance property of stress relaxation thereof in the direction perpendicular to the rolling direction is enhanced and the difference (anisotropy) in the resistance property of stress relaxation thereof between the parallel direction and the perpendicular direction to the rolling direction is reduced.

A laser atom probe (100) situates a counter electrode between a specimen mount and a detector (106), and provides a laser (116) having its beam (122) aligned to illuminate the specimen (104) through the aperture (110) of the counter electrode (108). The detector, specimen mount (102), and / or the counter electrode may be charged to some boost voltage and then be pulsed to bring the specimen to ionization. The timing of the laser pulses may be used to determine ion departure and arrival times allowing determination of the mass-to-charge ratios of the ions, thus their identities. Automated alignment methods are described wherein the laser is automatically directed to areas of interest.

A laser atom probe (100) situates a counter electrode between a specimen mount and a detector (106), and provides a laser (116) having its beam (122) aligned to illuminate the specimen (104) through the aperture (110) of the counter electrode (108). The detector, specimen mount (102), and then be pulsed to bring the specimen to ionization. The timing of the laser pulses may be used to determine ion departure and arrival times allowing determination of the mass-to-charge ratios of the ions, thus their identities. Automated alignment methods are described wherein the laser is automatically directed to areas of interest.

The invention relates to a making method of a three-dimensional atom probe sample. The method comprises the following steps: 1, spraying Pt on a region-of-interest, and extracting the region-of-interest through cooperating a focused ion beam with a manipulator; 2, finishing a three-dimensional atom probe to form a required shape; 3, welding the extracted region-of-interest to the tip of the finished probe through using Pt; and 4, processing the region-of-interest by using the focused ion beam to obtain dimensions required by the three-dimensional atom probe. The three-dimensional atom probe sample of the region-of-interest can be rapidly, accurately and visually made through the method, so the disadvantage of unable positioning of the region-of-interest of traditional electrolytic polishing making methods is solved, and the problem of easy breaking of three-dimensional atom probe samples made by using the focused ion beam in the test process is also solved; and the making method in the invention, adopting the probe as a support, has the advantages of low cost and convenient operation.

Disclosed are methods to prepare a specimen for microanalysis, the specimens so prepared, and methods to analyze the specimens by atom probe microscopy. The specimens are prepared by embedding a specimen within an electrically conductive matrix to yield an embedded specimen; and then forming regions on the embedded specimen into shapes suitable for microanalysis by an atom probe.

A three dimensional atom probe comprising a sharp specimen (10) coupled to a mounting means (12) where emission of charged particles is caused by application of a potential to the specimen tip (10) such that charged particles are influenced by filtering electrodes (206, 204) before impingement on a detection screen (202).

The invention belongs to the field of material preparation, and particularly provides a preparation method of a semiconductor probe tip sample for a detection of a three-dimensional atom probe. The method is different from the traditional method for vertically placing an entire fin structure on a probe tip, and comprises the following steps: crosscutting the fin structure in a semiconductor deviceby adopting a segment method; placing the fin structure in the semiconductor device perpendicularly to a growth direction; cutting into small segments by using a focused ion beam, that is, each probetip sample for the three-dimensional atom probe only comprises a small segment of the fin structure; cutting a plurality of probe tips; and performing collecting three-dimensional atom probe data onall probe tip samples to combine into a complete fin structure. According to the preparation method of the semiconductor probe tip sample for the detection of the three-dimensional atom probe, a datadistortion phenomenon on a semiconductor probe tip sample can be effectively avoided when detecting the three-dimensional atom probe, and more accurate data can be provided for analyzing a result of the three-dimensional atom probe.

A laser atom probe (100) situates a counter electrode between a specimen mount and a detector (106), and provides a laser (116) having its beam (122) aligned to illuminate the specimen (104) through the aperture (110) of the counter electrode (108). The detector, specimen mount (102), and / or the counter electrode may be charged to some boost voltage and then be pulsed to bring the specimen to ionization. The timing of the laser pulses may be used to determine ion departure and arrival times allowing determination of the mass-to-charge ratios of the ions, thus their identities. Automated alignment methods are described wherein the laser is automatically directed to areas of interest.

The invention relates to a transmission electron microscope sample table for observing a three-dimensional atom probe test sample. The transmission electron microscope sample table comprises a sample rod main body, a press part, an automatic reset device and guide rails, wherein the guide rails are connected to one end of the sample rod main body, a groove opening is formed in the end of the sample rod main body, an arc bottom groove is formed in the axial center of the groove opening, a rectangular step is arranged at the groove opening of the bottom groove, a stepped through hole is formed in the tail end of the bottom groove, the press part comprises a press block and an eccentric wheel, the eccentric wheel is used for pressing the press block, an arc groove body is formed in the press block, is symmetric to the bottom groove of the sample rod main body and has the same shape as the bottom groove, a guide boss of the press block is arranged in the stepped through hole, the automatic reset device is a spring, and the guide boss passes through the spring. The transmission electron microscope sample table is simple in structure and is convenient to process and maintain, large-angle rotation in an inclination way can be achieved, the three-dimensional atom probe test sample can be directly loaded, the transmission electron microscope sample table can be used as a three-dimensional reconstruction sample rod of a transmission electron microscope, and the acquired transmission electron microscope image can be used for directly correcting a data reconstruction result of a three-dimensional atom probe.

This aluminum alloy sheet has increased BH properties under low-temperature short-time-period conditions after long-term room-temperature aging by means of causing aggregates of specific atoms to be contained having a large effect in BH properties, the distance between atoms being no greater than a set distance, and containing either Mg atoms or Si atoms measured by 3D atom probe field ion microscopy in a 6000 aluminum alloy sheet containing a specific amount of Mg and Si.

The invention belongs to the field of material preparation and particularly relates to a method of preparing a three-dimensional atom probe sample on a powder particle. According to the method, the particle is transferred onto a tungsten needle point rather than a silicon base, and a focused ion beam (FIB) is adopted to prepare the three-dimensional atom probe sample directly on the particle. Through the method, the difficulty in preparation of the three-dimensional atom probe sample can be effectively lowered, and the sample preparation time is shortened to a great extent; and besides, the three-dimensional atom probe sample at an arbitrary position of the particle can be prepared selectively, it is convenient to compare element distribution in different regions of the particle, and moreaccurate data is provided for three-dimensional atom probe result analysis.

The invention belongs to the technical field of nanometer materials and discloses a 3DTEM and 3DAP multi-scale characterization universal sample table which comprises a sample table base; the tail endof the sample table base is in a rectangular shape, and the front end is in a shape of a swallow tail and form a right angle with the back end; the tail end of the sample table base is provided witha round hole; an outer copper pipe is welded to the front end of the sample table base; the front end of the outer copper pipe is sleeved with an inner copper pipe; the outer copper pipe is fixed withan inner copper pipe through a friction force; and a three-dimensional atom probe needle-like sample is clamped with the front end of the inner copper pipe. The 3DTEM and 3DAP multi-scale characterization universal sample table provided by the invention is ingenious in design, easy to disassemble, convenient to operate and relatively low in cost, can be repeatedly utilized, is easily combined with two three-dimensional atom probe needle-like sample preparation methods, enables sample preparation and electronic micro-analysis to be efficiently connected together and chemical component information of a three-dimensional atom probe and microstructure information of a three-dimensional transmission electron microscopy to be fully combined, has better applicability and can be more generally applied.

The invention belongs to the FIB processing field and especially relates to a simulation method of carrying out three-dimensional atom probe sample processing process by using an FIB based on MATLAB.The method comprises the following steps of S1, position marking; S2, first side surface cutting simulation: carrying out first side surface cutting process simulation by setting a sample stage rotation angle R1, a tilt angle T1, and a cutting depth H1; S3, second side surface cutting simulation: carrying out second side surface cutting process simulation as the above step; S4, sample extraction simulation: carrying out sample extraction process simulation by setting a rotation angle R3 of a sample stage and a tilt angle T3; S5, sample transfer simulation; S6, fall sample simulation; and S7, ring cutting simulation. A spatial position of a target microstructure in a detected material is marked through an MATLAB program, and rotation, tilting, translation and other motions of the sample stage during an FIB processing process are simulated so as to realize process simulation for the FIB to process an APT sample and a FIB processing parameter optimization design, and improve a purpose anda success rate of FIB processing.

A method of manufacturing a sample for an atom probe analysis of the invention is made one going through a step of manufacturing a concave / convex structure in both of a base needle and a transplantation sample piece by an etching working of an FIB, a step of jointing mutual members, and a step of bonding such that the concave / convex structure becomes a mesh form by a deposition working of the FIB.

The present invention concerns the enhancing of the mass resolution of wide angle tomographic atom probes. The invention consists of an atom probe also comprising a sample-holding device and a detector which are separated from one another by a distance L and enclosed in a chamber, an “Einzel” type electrostatic lens consisting of three electrodes arranged inside the chamber between the sample and the detector, to which electrical potentials are applied so as to form an electrical field that strongly focuses the beam of ions emitted by the sample under test when the probe is operating. According to the invention, the geometry of the electrodes is defined precisely so as to greatly limit the effects of the spherical aberration that affects the “Einzel” lens on the beam of ions, said spherical aberration being clearly sensitive when the lens is greatly polarized. The invention applies more particularly to the atom probes known as 3D atom probes.

The invention discloses a three-dimensional atom probe sample preparation first-stage polishing device. The three-dimensional atom probe sample preparation first-stage polishing device comprises a base, a supporting plate, a liner plate, an eccentric wheel, a first lever, a second lever, a connecting rod, a fixed plate, a stand column, a motor and a bolt. By adopting the polishing device, the manual polishing process is changed to the mechanical polishing process, so that the manpower is saved, and the precision is improved. The rotation of the motor is converted to the up-down movement through the levers and the eccentric wheel, and the application requirement can be met. By adopting the polishing device, the spatial position of the preparation of samples in different sizes can be adjusted, and the flexibility is strong. By adopting the aluminum alloy material, the weight is reduced, and the cost is reduced. The polishing device is electrified to execute the electrochemical polishing, so that the polishing size is fixed, the precision is high, the sample quality is good, the taper is large, and convenience in observation of the three-dimensional atom probe and data acquisition can be realized. A simple mechanical device capable of rapidly preparing a sample is provided for preparing a three-dimensional atom probe metal sample.

The invention belongs to the field of material preparation, and particularly relates to a method for preparing a three-dimensional atom probe sample in a rotary mode. The method comprises the following steps: Step 1: placing a planar block material on a sample table, and depositing a Pt layer on the upper surface of the planar block material along the region of interest; Step 2: extracting a triangular prism-like long strip sample: separating the region of interest from a substrate by using a focused ion beam; Step 3: rotating triangular prism-like long strip sample: transferring the triangular prism-like long strip sample extracted in Step 2 to a rotating needle point, rotating the rotating needle point, and transferring the rotated triangular prism-like long strip sample to an in-situ nano operating rod; and Step 4: shaping Shaping a needle point sample. According to the invention, after the triangular prism-like long strip sample is rotated by 90 degrees by an instrument, the needlepoint sample is further obtained, and after laser excitation, the obtained three-dimensional atom probe data can be reconstructed by software to obtain the data of an interface and tissue structureson two sides of the interface, so that the element distribution and structure in the needle point sample can be analyzed accurately.

A laser stimulated atom probe for atom probe imaging of dielectric and low conductivity semiconductor materials is disclosed. The laser stimulated atom probe comprises a conventional atom probe providing a field emission tip and ion detector arrangement, a laser system providing a laser short laser pulse and synchronous electronic timing signal to the atom probe, and an optical system for delivery of the laser beam onto the field emitting tip apex. The conventional atom probe is employed in a manner similar to that used for investigation of high conductivity materials. However, the electric field is held static while the laser is pulsed to provide pulsing of the ion emission rate. The laser pulsing is accomplished in a manner similar to prior implementations of pulsed laser atom probe spectroscopy. The laser pulses provide a trigger signal to enable recording the time of flight in the atom probe. The laser operates at a wavelength in the UV in order to enhance the optical absorption in semiconductor or dielectric field emission tips. The increased optical absorption allows efficient thermal pumping of the field evaporation rate. The tip apex field is also used to redshift the optical absorption spectra of the dielectric or semiconducting material under investigation, further enhancing the optical absorption. Due to the enhanced absorption, it is also possible to realize a photo ionization mechanism, wherein the laser stimulates electronic transitions from the more extended surface atoms, thereby ionizing the surface atom. The laser source is collimated by a collimation lens, reflected using dielectric mirrors, directed onto the sample tip using a focusing lens arrangement, collected from the tip using a collection lens, and directed into a beam stop. The laser beam diameter at focus is approximately 3-30 microns, thus, individual emission tips may be scanned from a field of tips illuminated by the laser pulse.

Problems to be solved by the present invention are to present a technique for preliminarily working a sample, which makes a place, that is desired to be analyzed, of a device into an acicular protrusion by locally cutting out the place, and to provide, even if the sample is a sample of a multilayer structure containing element layers whose evaporation electric fields are small in later-mentioned circumstances, a technique for making a stable ion evaporation in order possible, thereby making an SAP analysis at an atomic level possible. A preliminarily working of a sample for an atom probe apparatus of the invention comprises a step of cutting out a sample's desired observation site to a block-like form by using an FIB apparatus, a step of carrying and fixing the block-like cut-out sample onto a sample substrate, and a step of working the block-like sample fixed onto the sample substrate into a needle tip shape by an FIB etching. Further, the sample worked into the needle tip shape is formed such that a layer direction of a multilayer structure becomes parallel to a longitudinal direction of a needle.

In an atom probe or other mass spectrometer wherein a specimen is subjected to ionizing pulses (voltage pulses, thermal pulses, etc.) which induce field evaporation of ions from the specimen, the evaporated ions are then subjected to corrective pulses which are synchronized with the ionizing pulses. These corrective pulses have a magnitude and timing sufficient to reduce the velocity distribution of the evaporated ions, thereby resulting in increased mass resolution for the atom probe / mass spectrometer. In a preferred arrangement, ionizing pulses are supplied to the specimen from a first counter electrode adjacent the specimen. The corrective pulses are then supplied from a second counter electrode which is coupled to the first via a passive or active network, with the network controlling the form (timing, amplitude, and shape) of the corrective pulses.

A gas charge container includes a sample holder which holds a needle-shaped material, a deutrium gas supply portion which charges a deutrium gas into the needle-shaped material held by the sample holder, and a heating portion which heats the needle-shaped material held by the sample holder. The needle-shaped material is cooled by blocking the heat generated by the heating portion after the needle-shaped material is heated by the heating portion.

One of the purposes of the present invention is to provide a 6000-series aluminum alloy plate exhibiting bake hardening (BH) properties and molding properties after aging at room temperature for a long period. In one embodiment of the present invention, in a Sn-containing 6000-series aluminum alloy plate, specific clusters that greatly contribute to the development of the BH properties, which are determined by means of a three-dimensional atom probe field ion microscope, are contained at a predetermined density or more, and the sizes of the atom clusters that meet the aforementioned requirement are uniformed to adjust the average radius of an equivalent circle diameter of each of the clusters to a value falling within a specified range and reduce the standard deviation of the radius of the equivalent circle diameter, whereby the BH properties after aging at room temperature for a long period can be improved.

A specimen for atom probe analysis is prepared by providing a slab of material from which the specimen will be taken; defining a plurality of posts in the slab by in the slab; removing at least one post from the slab; and mounting the post. The post is shaped to a tip shape suitable for use in the atom probe, such as by focused ion beam milling the post to a tip shape. Grooves are cross cut into the slab. If needed, each groove is filled with a supporting material prior to cutting a parallel or intersecting groove thereto. The invention is also defined as a source of specimens for use in atom probe sampling comprising a slab of material from which the specimen will be taken, which has been defined into a plurality of posts and from which slab at least one post is removed from the slab and mounted.

The BH properties of a specific 6000-series aluminum alloy plate after aging at room temperature is further improved by including a predetermined density or greater of a specific cluster having a large effect on BH properties, and by controlling the proportion of clusters having a large Mg atom number, as measured by means of a 3D atom probe field ion microscope, to be greater than other clusters of atoms satisfying prescribed conditions. Provided is a 6000-series aluminum alloy plate exhibiting excellent BH properties and molding properties after aging at room temperature.

The present invention relates generally to atom probes, atom probe specimens, and associated methods. For example, certain aspects are directed toward methods for analyzing a portion of a specimen that includes selecting a region of interest and moving a portion of material in a border region proximate to the region of interest so that at least a portion of the region of interest protrudes relative to at least a portion of the border region. The method further includes analyzing a portion of the region of interest. Other aspects of the invention are directed toward a method for applying photonic energy in an atom probe process by passing photonic energy through a lens system separated from a photonic device and spaced apart from the photonic device. Yet other aspects of the invention are directed toward a method for reflecting photonic energy off an outer surface of an electrode onto a specimen.

The present invention provides a high-strength thick steel plate capable of ensuring a tensile strength to be more than 570MPa and realizing an excellent HAZ (Heat Affect Zone) toughness. The high-strength thick steel plate consists of specified chemical compositions, KV obtained by the following formula (1) is lower than 0.060, more than 90% of the area of a steel structure is bainite, in addition, an Nb atom or C atom having other Nb atoms or other C atoms within a distance of 1.7nm combines with the other Nb atoms or the other C atoms to form an aggregate having more than 5 atoms, by using a 3D atom probe field ion microscope to measure, the aggregate has a number density of more than 1.0*10<22> per cubic meter. KV = [V] + [Nb] ... (1) (wherein, [V] and [Nb] respectively represent V content and Nb content (mass%)).