Atom probe instrument for the imaging of hydrogen in materials – laser pulsing / detector upgrade

用于材料中氢成像的原子探针仪器 â 激光脉冲/探测器升级

• 批准号: 516600907
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Major Research Instrumentation
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2022-12-31 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/516600907?language=en
• 关键词: Atom; probe; instrument; imaging; hydrogen

APT has been widely used to study a range of high-strength structural alloys, semiconductor materials and oxides. It is uniquely suited for the imaging and analysis of all chemical elements in a sample without bias and with equal sensitivity. At FAU we aim to be on the forefront of atom probe tomography research. This includes in-house developed systems with special capabilities. Up to recently, APT excluded the imaging and analysis of hydrogen due to contamination from the stainless-steel chambers used. The in-house developed systems include a high-end instrument with titanium interior and chamber, resulting in an ultra-low hydrogen background for direct detection of hydrogen1. This instrument is the first and currently only one world-wide to achieve this. It can provide imaging and analysis for all chemical elements with equal sensitivity. This is especially important for the research on materials for the hydrogen economy. In this proposal we seek the upgrade of this ultra-low H atom probe system to state-of-the-art laser assisted field evaporation with an adequate digital front-end detector. This will serve multiple purposes. Firstly, it will allow the analysis of hydrogen in non-conductive materials and greatly increase the data yield on conductive specimens. Secondly, it will improve the detection efficiency of non-random detector hits, which are especially prevalent in laser-assisted atom probe tomography and therefore increase the analysis accuracy. Thirdly, it will enable us to analyse non-conductive materials with high detection efficiency (> 80% of all atoms), complementary to our existing instrument, which provides < 40 % detection efficiency albeit at high mass resolution. The upgrade consists of: (i) a tuneable deep-UV fs laser with < 300 nm minimum wavelength, > 1000 pJ pulse energy and a pulse repetition rate > 200 kHz, including optics for diffraction limited focussing and spot positioning. (ii) A delayline detector (detector head, high voltage power supply and pre-amplifier) with at least one redundant delayline and direct digitization with ≥ 2.5 GSa/s/ch on at least one channel per delayline endpoint. The atom probe laser upgrade applied for here will used in a broad research environment of materials research at FAU. The starting point is the Institute for General Materials Properties (WW1), where the fascinating possibilities of the atom probe are used very profitably in different areas (e.g. lightweight construction materials, catalysis, particle technology) and together with our collaboration partners (TU Wien, MU Leoben / Uni Innsbruck, Paul Scherrer Institute, Oak Ridge National Lab and more). The atom probe upgrade will also continue to enrich research at important FAU institutes, such as the Central Institute for New Materials and Process Technology, ZMP, and the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nuremberg, which focuses on materials research for renewable energies.

APT已被广泛用于研究一系列高强度结构合金、半导体材料和氧化物。它是唯一适合于成像和分析样品中的所有化学元素无偏差和同等灵敏度。在FAU，我们的目标是站在原子探针断层扫描研究的最前沿。这包括内部开发的具有特殊功能的系统。直到最近，由于使用的不锈钢腔室受到污染，APT排除了氢的成像和分析。内部开发的系统包括一个具有钛内部和腔室的高端仪器，从而产生超低氢背景，用于直接检测氢1。这是世界上第一个也是目前唯一一个实现这一目标的工具。它能以相同的灵敏度对所有化学元素进行成像和分析。这对氢经济材料的研究尤为重要。在本提案中，我们寻求将这种超低氢原子探测系统升级为最先进的激光辅助场蒸发系统，并配备适当的数字前端探测器。这将达到多种目的。首先，它将允许分析非导电材料中的氢，并大大提高导电样品的数据产量。其次，它将提高非随机探测器命中的检测效率，特别是在激光辅助原子探针断层扫描中普遍存在，从而提高分析精度。第三，它将使我们能够以高检测效率（所有原子的80%）分析非导电材料，补充我们现有的仪器，尽管具有高质量分辨率，但检测效率< 40%。升级包括：(i)一个可调谐的深紫外激光，最小波长< 300 nm，脉冲能量>000 pJ，脉冲重复率> 200 kHz，包括衍射限制聚焦和光斑定位光学器件。（ii）延迟线检测器（检测器头、高压电源和前置放大器），至少有一个冗余延迟线，每个延迟线端点至少有一个通道上具有≥2.5 GSa/s/ch的直接数字化。本文所应用的原子探针激光器升级将在FAU材料研究的广泛研究环境中得到应用。起点是通用材料特性研究所（WW1），原子探针的迷人可能性在不同领域（例如轻质建筑材料，催化，粒子技术）得到了非常有益的应用，并与我们的合作伙伴（维也纳工业大学，MU Leoben / Uni Innsbruck， Paul Scherrer研究所，橡树岭国家实验室等）一起。原子探针的升级也将继续丰富FAU重要研究所的研究，如中央新材料和工艺技术研究所，ZMP和埃尔兰根-纽伦堡亥姆霍兹研究所，该研究所专注于可再生能源的材料研究。