Tomographic atom probe with terahertz pulse generator

Abstract

A tomographic atom probe includes an analysis chamber intended to analyze a sample of material in the form of a nanotip mounted on an anti-vibration support, the nanotip being brought to a temperature of between 0 kelvin and ambient temperature, the nanotip being biased at an adjustable voltage of between 1 kV and 15 kV, the analysis chamber comprising a position-sensitive and time of flight-sensitive ion detector. The atom probe comprises a generator for generating high-peak-intensity single-cycle ultrashort terahertz pulses, the analysis chamber comprising optical means for focusing the terahertz pulses, the focusing of the terahertz pulses causing the atoms of the nanotip to evaporate through the field effect without thermal effects. The terahertz pulses are generated by a femtosecond pulsed laser emitting very high-power ultrashort optical pulses at a high rate.