Study on a Novel Sample Preparation Method for Organic Materials in Atom Probe Tomography

Abstract

It is important to study the distribution of host and guest molecules in organic electroluminescence materials because their distribution dramatically affects the functionalities of these materials. In order to understand this distribution, a new analysis method should be developed to obtain sub-nanometer scale information. In this regard, we used Atom Probe Tomography (APT). APT is a three-dimensional analysis technique with sub-nanometer scale resolution and is frequently used in material science and engineering. There are many reports on the analysis of inorganic materials using APT analysis, however only a few studies report the analysis of organic materials because of difficulties in the sample preparation, measurements, and the three-dimensional reconstruction of organic materials. In this study, we focused on developing a new sample preparation method and suggested the new sample preparation method for the analysis of organic materials. This new preparation method needs only a small amount of organic materials for analysis. Moreover, it is very simple and combines electrolytic polishing with the dipping method.