title: On the field evaporation behavior of a model Ni-Al-Cr superalloy studied by picosecond pulsed-laser atom-probe tomography.
abstract: The effects of varying the pulse energy of a picosecond laser used in the pulsed-laser atom-probe (PLAP) tomography of an as-quenched Ni-6.5 Al-9.5 Cr at.% alloy are assessed based on the quality of the mass spectra and the compositional accuracy of the technique. Compared to pulsed-voltage atom-probe tomography, PLAP tomography improves mass resolving power, decreases noise levels, and improves compositional accuracy. Experimental evidence suggests that Ni2+, Al2+, and Cr2+ ions are formed primarily by a thermally activated evaporation process, and not by post-ionization of the ions in the 1+ charge state. An analysis of the detected noise levels reveals that for properly chosen instrument parameters, there is no significant steady-state heating of the Ni-6.5 Al-9.5 Cr at.% tips during PLAP tomography.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, 2220 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208-3108, USA.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Booth-Morrison
authors.forename: David N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Seidman