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Correlative Site-Specific Sample Preparation for Atom Probe Tomography on Complex Microstructures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2021

Lucía Paula Campo Schneider Open the ORCID record for Lucía Paula Campo Schneider [Opens in a new window] ,
Jenifer Barrirero ,
Christoph Pauly ,
Agustina Guitar  and
Frank Mücklich
Lucía Paula Campo Schneider*
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Saarland University, Campus D 3.3, D-66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
Jenifer Barrirero
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Saarland University, Campus D 3.3, D-66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
Christoph Pauly
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Saarland University, Campus D 3.3, D-66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
Agustina Guitar
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Saarland University, Campus D 3.3, D-66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
Frank Mücklich
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Saarland University, Campus D 3.3, D-66123 Saarbrücken, Germany Material Engineering Center Saarland (MECS), Steinbeis Research Center, Campus D 3.3, D-66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
*
*Author for correspondence: Lucía Paula Campo Schneider, E-mail: lucia.campo@uni-saarland.de
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Abstract

Site-specific specimen preparation for atom probe tomography (APT) is a challenging task. Small features need to be located using a suitable imaging technique and captured within a volume of less than 0.01 μm3. Correlative microscopy has shown to be helpful for target preparation as well as to gain complementary information about the material. Current strategies developed in that direction can be highly time-consuming and not always ensure the correct site extraction in complex microstructures. In this work, we present a methodology to study grain boundaries and interfaces in martensitic steels by combining electron backscattered diffraction, transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD), and APT. Furthermore, we include the design of a sample holder that allows to perform TKD and scanning transmission electron microscopy on the specimen during preparation without breaking the vacuum of the scanning electron microscope/focused ion beam workstation. We show a case study where a prior austenite grain boundary is traced from the bulk material to the apex of the APT specimen. The presence of contamination due to the specimen exposure to the electron beam and the use of plasma cleaning to minimize it are discussed.

Keywords

atom probe tomographycorrelative microscopygrain boundary analysismartensitic steelstransmission Kikuchi diffraction
Type
Development and Computation
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , August 2022 , pp. 1009 - 1018
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Microscopy Society of America

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