Atomic worlds: Current state and future of atom probe tomography in geoscience

Abstract

Atom Probe Microscopy (APM) is rapidly finding new applications within the geosciences. Historically connected with materials science and semiconductor device applications, recent years have seen an exciting trend as APM has proved a useful tool for nanoscale geochemistry, as it offers unique capabilities when compared with the current suite of conventional geoanalytical techniques. The ability to characterize 3D nanoscale chemistry with isotopic sensitivity, and correlate these results with other analytical techniques, has uncovered intricate details of complex trace element distributions within a variety of minerals and has opened the door to nanoscale isotope geochemistry. Already these advances are having an impact on long-standing questions within geochronology, planetary science and many other fields of research. As this trend gathers pace, we present here a brief summary of the current status of APM geoscience applications and discuss the likely future directions in this developing research space.

Application of FIB-SEM Techniques for the Advanced Characterization of Earth and Planetary Materials

“…Valley et al [64] proposed FIB and APT techniques as a valuable tool for studying a 4.4-Gyr-old Hadean zircon, as shown in Figure 5. It was found that isolated nanoclusters are enriched in incompatible elements including radiogenic Pb with an unusually high 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ratio, though the average bulk value of 207 Pb/ 206 Pb is in good agreement with SIMS data at the micron scale [58,64]. The accurate U-Pb isotopic analysis of nanoscale domains from this work opens up a new era of nanogeochronology [58,59].…”

“…It was found that isolated nanoclusters are enriched in incompatible elements including radiogenic Pb with an unusually high 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ratio, though the average bulk value of 207 Pb/ 206 Pb is in good agreement with SIMS data at the micron scale [58,64]. The accurate U-Pb isotopic analysis of nanoscale domains from this work opens up a new era of nanogeochronology [58,59]. In addition, FIB and APT techniques have been also used for the study of deformation induced trace element migration and the nanoscale gold clusters in arsenopyrite [58,65,66].…”

“…When applied to geological samples, which are commonly insulating, APT is usually operated in a "pulsed laser" mode that promotes field evaporation [58,63].…”

Current Challenges and Opportunities in Microstructure-Related Properties of Advanced High-Strength Steels

“…[339][340][341] The FIB has allowed to precisely target the preparation of specimens for APT [342,343] that enabled to avoid the trial and error approach of the previous decades. Laser-pulsing lifted the requirement that the specimen must be a good electrical conductor to be analyzed by APT, [319,[344][345][346][347] but also increased the yield significantly. [348] The use of FIB allows to first select a microstructural feature of interest by using the scanning electron microscope, including using advanced techniques such as electron backscattered diffraction [189] or electron channeling contrast imaging for instance.…”

Atom Probe Tomography (APT) Characterization of Organics Occluded in Single Calcite Crystals: Implications for Biomineralization Studies

“…Detailed mass spectra with high resolution of peaks, identified in Table 2, can be found in Supplementary Figures S1-S4. A challenging aspect of using atom probe tomography for the analysis of geological materials is the complexity of mass spectra and the possibility of peak overlaps [14]. Such complexity is effectively multiplied if organic species are analyzed in conjunction with minerals [9,10,12].…”