The Optimization of Zircon Analyses by Laser‐Assisted Atom Probe Microscopy

Saxey, David W.; Reddy, Steven M.; Fougerouse, Denis; Rickard, William D.A.

doi:10.1002/9781119227250.ch14

Cited by 17 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 97 publications

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“…In our data, the M/DM 10 peak parameter increases with laser energy. This trend is opposite to the trend observed in zircon and rutile (Saxey et al 2018, Verberne et al 2019 but is similar to what is observed in tungsten carbide (Peng et al 2017) although it is unclear what effects the laser stepping protocol may have on peak shape. In monazite, we demonstrated that at higher laser power, the field at the apex of the specimen is reduced, suggesting that less spontaneous evaporation would occur between pulses and this could be the explanation for the narrower peaks.…”

Section: Effect Of Instrument Parameters On Data Qualitycontrasting

confidence: 68%

Nanoscale Isotopic Dating of Monazite

Fougerouse

Kirkland

Saxey

et al. 2020

Geostandard Geoanalytic Res

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Pb geochronology is widely used for dating geological processes, but current analytical techniques are limited to grains greater than 5 lm in diameter. This limitation precludes the analysis of both micrometre-scale discrete monazite grains and fine textures within monazite crystals that are commonly found in geological specimens. Here, we analyse reference materials by atom probe tomography and develop a protocol for 208 Pb/ 232 Th dating of nanoscale domains of monazite (0.0007 lm 3 analytical volume). The results indicate that the 208 Pb 2+ / 232 ThO 2+ ratios are higher than the true values. Such fractionation can be corrected using a linear regression between 208 Pb 2+ / 232 ThO 2+ and the M/ DM 10 peak shape parameter, where M is the position of the O þ 2 peak and DM 10 the full-width-at-tenth-maximum for the same peak. This correction results in 15-20% analytical uncertainty on the corrected 208 Pb/ 232 Th age. Nonetheless, this approach opens the possibility of obtaining 208 Pb/ 232 Th ages with sufficient precision to address geological questions on an unprecedented small scale. To illustrate the approach, atom probe geochronology of a small monazite grain from the contact aureole of the Fanad pluton (Ireland) yielded a 208 Pb/ 232 Th atom probe age of 420 ± 60 Ma (2s) and is consistent with the known metamorphism in the region.

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Section: Effect Of Instrument Parameters On Data Qualitycontrasting

confidence: 68%

Nanoscale Isotopic Dating of Monazite

Fougerouse

Kirkland

Saxey

et al. 2020

Geostandard Geoanalytic Res

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“…Several recent studies have compared APT compositional results from geological samples with those from other geoanalytical techniques (Pérez‐Huerta et al , Daly et al , Exertier et al , Reinhard et al , Saxey et al ). Most comparisons provide excellent agreement, within the uncertainty arising from counting statistics in the atom probe data.…”

Section: Performance and Optimisationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to the limitations imposed by detector dead time, the occurrence of multiple‐ion events is usually minimised by optimisation of the acquisition conditions. In general, a lower electric field will tend to reduce the frequency of multiple events (De Geuser et al , Müller et al , Saxey et al , Verberne et al ), which can be achieved by increasing the laser pulse energy or reducing the evaporation rate.…”

Section: Performance and Optimisationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These above studies illustrated how APT could be applied to specific research problems. However, there is also an underlying need to better understand the systematics of atom probe data acquisition, ranging and reconstruction variables in geological materials and this has led to a number of papers dealing with APT optimisation in accessory phase analysis (La Fontaine et al , Blum et al , Exertier et al , Reinhard et al , Saxey et al , Verberne et al ).…”

Section: Geoscience Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, a recent study on zircon has shown that other parameters can have an effect on molecule formation. For example, a detrimental peak overlap between Si 2 O 3 2+ and 208 Pb 2+ in zircon, is minimised at high voltages independently of the laser energy, indicating the importance of the electric field in controlling the formation of molecular species (Saxey et al ).…”

Section: Technique Limitations Analysis Artefacts and Potential Solumentioning

confidence: 99%

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Atom Probe Tomography: Development and Application to the Geosciences

Reddy

Saxey

Rickard

et al. 2020

Geostandard Geoanalytic Res

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102

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Atom probe tomography (APT) is an analytical technique that provides quantitative three‐dimensional elemental and isotopic analyses at sub‐nanometre resolution across the whole periodic table. Although developed and mostly used in the materials science and semiconductor fields, recent years have seen increasing development and application in the geoscience and planetary science disciplines. Atom probe studies demonstrate compositional complexity at the nanoscale and provide fundamental new insights into the atom‐scale mechanisms taking place in minerals over geological time. Here, we provide an overview of APT, including the historical development and technical aspects of the instrumentation, and the fundamentals of data acquisition, data processing and data reconstruction. We also review previous studies and highlight the potential future applications of nanoscale geochemical studies of natural materials.

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