title: C12/C13-ratio determination in nanodiamonds by atom-probe tomography.
abstract: The astrophysical origins of ∼ 3 nm-diameter meteoritic nanodiamonds can be inferred from the ratio of C12/C13. It is essential to achieve high spatial and mass resolving power and minimize all sources of signal loss in order to obtain statistically significant measurements. We conducted atom-probe tomography on meteoritic nanodiamonds embedded between layers of Pt. We describe sample preparation, atom-probe tomography analysis, 3D reconstruction, and bias correction. We present new data from meteoritic nanodiamonds and terrestrial standards and discuss methods to correct isotopic measurements made with the atom-probe tomograph.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Space Sciences, Physics Department, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA. Electronic address: jlewis@physics.wustl.edu.
authors.forename: Josiah B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Center for Atom-Probe Tomography, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Isheim
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Space Sciences, Physics Department, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Floss
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Center for Atom-Probe Tomography, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
authors.forename: David N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Seidman
keywords: Atom-probe tomography; FIB liftout; Meteoritic nanodiamond; Nucleosynthesis; Presolar grains