Atom Probe Tomography (APT) Workshop for Earth Sciences

University Of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa AL

Investigators

Abstract

This award will provide funding to organize a workshop centered on atom-probe tomography for geoscientists. Atom-probe tomography is the highest spatial resolution analytical technique in existence for the characterization of materials. However, atom-probe tomography is practically unknown to the geosciences community despite offering clear benefits to researchers in Earth Sciences. The aim of the workshop is to establish an open forum for the discussion of the potential uses and benefits of this technique, while providing information to colleagues from a geological perspective. Besides the invitation of senior researchers, an additional goal of this workshop is the participation of graduate students. The strength of this technique relies in the possibility of combining a 3D material reconstruction with chemical composition, including isotopes, at atomic scale with a near part-per-million analytical sensitivity. Recent advances in field emission microscopy and the atom probe technique have allowed the preliminary analysis of geological materials. First results from the APT application to minerals have provided significant geochemical information at a spatial resolution that is not achieved with any current methodology. Thus, atom-probe tomography is emerging as a powerful technique that can revolutionize research in geochemistry and re-shape our understanding of geological processes from the nanoscale to the continental scale.