Atom probe atomic resolution

The most popular of the scanning probe tecimiques are STM and atomic force microscopy (AFM). STM and AFM provide images of the outemiost layer of a surface with atomic resolution. STM measures the spatial distribution of the surface electronic density by monitoring the tiumelling of electrons either from the sample to the tip or from the tip to the sample. This provides a map of the density of filled or empty electronic states, respectively. The variations in surface electron density are generally correlated with the atomic positions. 

AFM measures the spatial distribution of the forces between an ultrafme tip and the sample. This distribution of these forces is also highly correlated with the atomic structure. STM is able to image many semiconductor and metal surfaces with atomic resolution. AFM is necessary for insulating materials, however, as electron conduction is required for STM in order to achieve tiumelling. Note that there are many modes of operation for these instruments, and many variations in use. In addition, there are other types of scaiming probe microscopies under development. 

Bammerlin M, Luthi R, Meyer E, Baratoff A, Lu J, Guggisberg M, Gerber Ch, Howald L and Gutherodt H-J 1997 True atomic resolution on the surface of an insulator via ultrahigh vacuum dynamic force microscopy Probe Microsc. 1 3... 

Lillehei P T and Bottomley L A 2000 Scanning probe microscopy Ana/. Chem. 72 189R Sonnenfield R and Hansma P K 1986 Atomic-resolution microscopy in water Sc/ence 232 211... 

Various ion-optical tricks have to be used to compensate for the spread of energies of the extracted ions, which limit mass resolution unless corrected for. In the latest version of the atom probe (Cerezo et at. 1988), spatial as well as compositional information is gathered. The hole in the imaging screen is dispensed with and it is replaced by a position-sensitive screen that measures at each point on the screen the time of flight, and thus a compositional map with extremely high (virtually atomic) resolution is attained. Extremely sophisticated computer control is needed to obtain valid results. 

Gao X, HameUn A, Weaver MJ. 1991. Potential-dependent reconstraction at ordered Au(lOO)-aqueous interfaces as probed by atomic-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy. Phys Rev Lett 67 618-621. 

In recent years, increasing use has been made of in situ methods in EM—as is true of other techniques of catalyst characterization such as IR, Raman, and NMR spectroscopy, or X-ray diffraction. Although the low mean-free path of electrons prevents EM from being used when model catalysts are exposed to pressures comparable to those prevailing in industrial processes, Gai and Boyes (4) reported early investigations of in situ EM with atomic resolution under controlled reaction conditions to probe the dynamics of catalytic reactions. Direct in situ investigation permits extrapolation to conditions under which practical catalysts operate, as described in Section VIII. 

Fig. 14. Schematic of the basic geometry of the aperture system and objective lens pole pieces incorporating radial holes for differential pumping system in the novel atomic resolution-ETEM design of Gai and Boyes (85-90) to probe catalysis at the atomic level.

T.T. Tsong, Atom-Probe and Field Ion Microscopy Field-Ion Emission and Surfaces and Interfaces at Atomic Resolution, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990. 

Tsong, T, T. (1979). Quantitative atom-probe and field ion microscope studies at atomic resolution. Direct Imaging of Atoms in Crystals and Molecules Nobel Symposium 47, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 7-15. 

Recent advances in in situ atomic-resolution ETEM for probing gas-catalyst reactions at the atomic level... 

The atom-probe field ion microscope is a device which combines an FIM, a probe-hole, and a mass spectrometer of single ion detection sensitivity. With this device, not only can the atomic structure of a surface be imaged with the same atomic resolution as with an FIM, but the chemical species of surface atoms of one s choice, chosen from the field ion image and the probe-hole, can also be identified one by one by mass spectrometry. In principle, any type of mass analyzer can be used as long as the overall detection efficiency of the mass analyzer, which includes the detection efficiency of the ion detector used and the transmission coefficient of the system, has to be close to unity. 

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