Pulsed-laser atom probe: Recent applications

A new approach to time of flight atom probe mass spectroscopy was introduced in 1979 with the development of the photon induced field ionization mass spectrometer and the pulsed laser atom probe. These techniques differed from conventional atom probes in that the field evaporation of surface species was initiated with a short duration laser pulse and a dc electric field, rather than a high voltage electrical pulse. It is shown that the approach has several advantages. A study of insulating glasses, demonstrates the applicability of the pulsed laser atom probe to high resistivity materials. A study of the field dependence of the charge state distributions of field evaporated ions, utilizes the capability of the pulsed laser technique to carry out field evaporation measurements as a function of the applied electric field.