Atom probe tomography (APT) analysis conditions play a major role in the composition measurement accuracy. Preferential evaporation (PE), which significantly biases the apparent composition, more than other well-known phenomena in APT, is strongly connected to those analysis conditions. One way to optimize them, in order to have the most accurate measurement, is therefore to be able to predict and then to estimate their influence on the apparent composition. An analytical model is proposed to quantify the PE. This model is applied to three different alloys such as NiCu, FeCrNi, and FeCu. The model explains not only the analysis temperature dependence, as in an already existing model, but also the dependence to the pulse fraction and the pulse frequency. Moreover, the model can also provide an energetic constant directly linked to the energy barrier required to field evaporate atom from the sample surface.

Irradiation of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels causes the formation of nanoscale microstructural features (termed radiation damage), which affect the mechanical properties of the vessel. A key tool for characterizing these nanoscale features is atom probe tomography (APT), due to its high spatial resolution and the ability to identify different chemical species in three dimensions. Microstructural observations using APT can underpin development of a mechanistic understanding of defect formation. However, with atom probe analyses there are currently multiple methods for analyzing the data. This can result in inconsistencies between results obtained from different researchers and unnecessary scatter when combining data from multiple sources. This makes interpretation of results more complex and calibration of radiation damage models challenging. In this work simulations of a range of different microstructures are used to directly compare different cluster analysis algorithms and identify their strengths and weaknesses.

A high chromium ferritic Oxide Dispersion Strengthened steel was produced by mechanical alloying of Fe-18Cr-1W-0.3Ti-0.3Ni-0.15Si and 0.5% Y2O3 (wt.%) powders in industrial attritor, followed by hot extrusion at 1100°C. The material was characterized by Atom Probe Tomography on each step of manufacturing process: as-milled powder and in final hot extruded state. In addition, to get information on clustering kinetics the powder was also characterized after annealing at 850°C during 1 hour. Atom Probe Tomography revealed that the oxide dispersion strengthened steel Fe-18Cr contains nanometer scale yttrium- and oxygen-enriched nanoclusters in as-milled state. Their evolution is shown after subsequent annealing and hot extrusion. More well defined nanophases also enriched in Ti are observed. A mechanism of their formation is proposed. Mechanical alloying results in supersaturated solid solution with presence of small Y- and O-enriched clusters. Subsequent annealing stimulates incorporation of Ti to the nucleii that were previously formed during mechanical alloying.

A low copper reactor pressure vessel steel was characterised by atom probe tomography after neutron irradiation at different fluences. The specimens were irradiated within the frame of the Surveillance Program of a production reactor. Roughly spherical clusters enriched in nickel, manganese, silicon and, in a lesser extent, phosphorus and copper were observed at all fluences. The chemical composition of these clusters shows no evolution with fluence, as well as their diameter, close to 3 nm. Their number density increases linearly with the neutron fluence. A continuous segregation of the elements found in the clusters is also observed along dislocation lines, with similar enrichments.

Silicon rich silicon oxide multilayers for optical devices have been investigated by laser assisted wide angle atom probe tomography. Three dimensional mapping of silicon nanoclusters multilayers was obtained. The composition of the different phases were deduced and compared to theoretical concentration. These results evidenced a size distribution of the Si clusters diameter and an incomplete phase separation between silica and silicon particles.