Atom-Probe Tomography at Northwestern's NUCAPT Facility

The LEAP4000XSi atom-probe tomograph at Northwestern's MRSEC-NUCAPT facility, manufactured by Cameca, was upgraded in 2012 with the newest laser optics technology for allowing state-of-the art nano-scale 3D imaging of materials. In an atom-probe tomograph, a three-dimensional atom-by-atom image is generated by determining the elemental identity of each atom by mass spectrometry and simultaneously imaging the sample surface, at an approximate 1 million times magnification, by a process called field-evaporation.

Significant use of MRFN funding and the publicity of the MRFN network has created a long list of interdisciplinary collaborators making use of this instrument, including users at Drexel University, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Ohio State University, Rice niversity, UCLA, and the University of Illiniois at Urbana-Champaign.