Atom Probe Tomography Applications in Materials Characterization

Atom Probe Tomography (APT) has emerged as a pivotal technique in materials science, offering three-dimensional compositional mapping with near-atomic resolution. By field‐evaporating ions from a needle‐shaped specimen under an intense electric field and collecting their time‐of‐flight and position, APT reconstructs volumetric datasets that reveal the distribution of elements at the nanoscale. This ability has transformed the study of metallic alloys, semiconductors, catalysts, battery electrodes and biological materials by enabling direct observation of segregation at grain boundaries, solute clustering, nanoscale phase chemistry and impurity distributions. Advances in specimen preparation—ranging from cryogenic focussed ion beam protocols to ultra-high vacuum transfer systems—and the integration of correlative microscopy tools have expanded APT’s applicability to environmentally sensitive, soft and hydrated specimens. The technique now underpins developments in energy storage, corrosion science, structural materials design and biomineralisation research, providing critical insights into failure mechanisms, catalytic functionality and hierarchical organisation across diverse fields.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have demonstrated the feasibility of integrating atom probe tomography directly into a transmission electron microscope, producing a hybrid instrument that combines in situ three-dimensional chemical reconstructions with high-resolution structural imaging. This convergence allows simultaneous correlation of atomic‐scale compositional fields with crystallographic and defect information, streamlining workflows and deepening understanding of nanoscale interfaces. Another development has introduced evaporation energy loss spectroscopy, a data-processing approach that extracts ion energy loss during field evaporation to infer original bonding states in three dimensions. By modelling the kinetics of ion desorption and analysing peak shapes, researchers have reconstructed chemical bonding environments around defects and microstructural features in metallic alloys, opening new avenues for three-dimensional chemical and electronic state mapping.

Atom Probe Tomography Applications in Materials Characterization publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in atom probe tomography applications in materials characterization across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Atom Probe Tomography (APT): A microscopy technique that reconstructs the three-dimensional position and identity of atoms by field-evaporating ions from a needle-shaped specimen and analysing their time-of-flight and impact position.

Field Evaporation: The process by which surface atoms are ionised and removed under an intense electric field, forming the basis for APT data acquisition.

Correlative Microscopy: An approach combining APT with other imaging modalities, such as transmission electron microscopy, to link compositional and structural information at the nanoscale.

Evaporation Energy Loss Spectroscopy (FEELS): A data-processing method that extracts ion energy loss during field evaporation to reconstruct original chemical bonding environments in three dimensions.

Cryogenic Atom Probe Tomography (Cryo-APT): An adaptation of APT where specimens are prepared, transferred and analysed at cryogenic temperatures to preserve volatile phases and reduce artefacts in sensitive materials.

References

1. Bringing atom probe tomography to transmission electron microscopes. Nature Communications (2024).
2. Introducing field evaporation energy loss spectroscopy. Communications Physics (2023).
3. Elucidating the Structure and Composition of Individual Bimetallic Nanoparticles in Supported Catalysts by Atom Probe Tomography. Journal of the American Chemical Society (2023).
4. Cryogenic atom probe tomography and its applications: a review. Microstructures (2023).
5. Atom probe analysis of electrode materials for Li-ion batteries: challenges and ways forward. Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2022).