Atom probe tomography of reactor pressure vessel steels: An analysis of data integrity

J. M. Hyde; M. G. Burke; B. Gault; D. Wf Saxey; P. Styman; K. B. Wilford; T. J. Williams

doi:10.1016/j.ultramic.2010.12.033

Atom probe tomography of reactor pressure vessel steels: An analysis of data integrity

J. M. Hyde, M. G. Burke, B. Gault, D. Wf Saxey, P. Styman, K. B. Wilford, T. J. Williams

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

In this work, the importance of optimising experimental conditions for the analysis of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels using atom probe tomography is explored. The quality of the resultant atom probe data is assessed in terms of detection efficiency, noise levels and mass resolution. It is demonstrated that artefacts can exist even when experimental conditions have been optimised. In particular, it is shown that surface diffusion of some minority species, including P and Si, to major poles prior to field evaporation can be an issue. The effects were most noticeable during laser pulsing. The impact of surface migration on the characterisation of dislocations and grain boundaries is assessed. The importance of selecting appropriate regions of the reconstructed data for subsequent re-analysis is emphasised. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	676-682
Number of pages	6
Journal	Ultramicroscopy
Volume	111
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultramic.2010.12.033
Publication status	Published - 2011

Keywords

Atom probe tomography
Data integrity
Experimental artefacts
Reactor pressure vessel steels

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10.1016/j.ultramic.2010.12.033

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title = "Atom probe tomography of reactor pressure vessel steels: An analysis of data integrity",

abstract = "In this work, the importance of optimising experimental conditions for the analysis of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels using atom probe tomography is explored. The quality of the resultant atom probe data is assessed in terms of detection efficiency, noise levels and mass resolution. It is demonstrated that artefacts can exist even when experimental conditions have been optimised. In particular, it is shown that surface diffusion of some minority species, including P and Si, to major poles prior to field evaporation can be an issue. The effects were most noticeable during laser pulsing. The impact of surface migration on the characterisation of dislocations and grain boundaries is assessed. The importance of selecting appropriate regions of the reconstructed data for subsequent re-analysis is emphasised. {\textcopyright} 2010 Elsevier B.V.",

keywords = "Atom probe tomography, Data integrity, Experimental artefacts, Reactor pressure vessel steels",

author = "Hyde, {J. M.} and Burke, {M. G.} and B. Gault and Saxey, {D. Wf} and P. Styman and Wilford, {K. B.} and Williams, {T. J.}",

year = "2011",

doi = "10.1016/j.ultramic.2010.12.033",

language = "English",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Atom probe tomography of reactor pressure vessel steels: An analysis of data integrity

AU - Hyde, J. M.

AU - Burke, M. G.

AU - Gault, B.

AU - Saxey, D. Wf

AU - Styman, P.

AU - Wilford, K. B.

AU - Williams, T. J.

PY - 2011

Y1 - 2011

N2 - In this work, the importance of optimising experimental conditions for the analysis of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels using atom probe tomography is explored. The quality of the resultant atom probe data is assessed in terms of detection efficiency, noise levels and mass resolution. It is demonstrated that artefacts can exist even when experimental conditions have been optimised. In particular, it is shown that surface diffusion of some minority species, including P and Si, to major poles prior to field evaporation can be an issue. The effects were most noticeable during laser pulsing. The impact of surface migration on the characterisation of dislocations and grain boundaries is assessed. The importance of selecting appropriate regions of the reconstructed data for subsequent re-analysis is emphasised. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.

AB - In this work, the importance of optimising experimental conditions for the analysis of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels using atom probe tomography is explored. The quality of the resultant atom probe data is assessed in terms of detection efficiency, noise levels and mass resolution. It is demonstrated that artefacts can exist even when experimental conditions have been optimised. In particular, it is shown that surface diffusion of some minority species, including P and Si, to major poles prior to field evaporation can be an issue. The effects were most noticeable during laser pulsing. The impact of surface migration on the characterisation of dislocations and grain boundaries is assessed. The importance of selecting appropriate regions of the reconstructed data for subsequent re-analysis is emphasised. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.

KW - Atom probe tomography

KW - Data integrity

KW - Experimental artefacts

KW - Reactor pressure vessel steels

U2 - 10.1016/j.ultramic.2010.12.033

DO - 10.1016/j.ultramic.2010.12.033

M3 - Article

SN - 0304-3991

VL - 111

SP - 676

EP - 682

JO - Ultramicroscopy

JF - Ultramicroscopy

IS - 6

ER -

Atom probe tomography of reactor pressure vessel steels: An analysis of data integrity

Abstract

Keywords

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