Project Info

Hardware and Code Development for Atomic Scale Tomography

Brian Gorman | bgorman@mines.edu

Currently, the holy grail of materials characterization has been identifying single atoms with Angstrom level spatial resolution. Such a full atomic scale understanding of materials is necessary for disruptive technologies in solar energy, quantum electronics, and to be created and developed. Atom Probe Tomography (APT) can analyze materials a single atom at a time and reconstruct data in 3-D, however, the data reconstruction process currently utilized does not accurately represent the original material. My group has recently shown that a combination of Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) along with APT can accurately reconstruct individual atomic positions in 3-D, making Atomic Scale Tomography (AST) a tangible possibility. In order to achieve AST, a combination of APT data collection hardware within the objective lens of a TEM along with data reconstruction methods to accurately analyze the data and correct for ion trajectory aberrations is needed. Hardware has been drawn on paper and the major components acquired, but a full prototype needs to be completed and assembled. The software has initially been tested and shown promising results, but further Matlab code development is needed. Students involved in this program will collaborate with scientists in MME, Physics, and with researchers at NIST in Boulder. Upon successful demonstration of AST, the students involved in this program will have a hand in being the first to measure individual atoms in 3-D and change how new products are developed.

More Information

atomprobe.mines.edu
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-14215-0

Grand Engineering Challenge: Engineer the tools of scientific discovery