High field excitation: atom probe field ion microscopy (APFIM)

Abstract The technique of atom probe field ion microscopy has grown out of the older technique of Field Ion Microscopy (FIM), originated by Muller,1 which grew in turn out of field emission microscopy, also originated by Muller. Of all the surface-specific analytical techniques, APFIM is the only one with the ultimate in compositional sensitivity, i.e. a single atom. On the other hand, as will be seen below, analysis using APFIM is performed under somewhat extreme conditions of local electrostatic field, which has meant that nearly all its applications have been metallurgical. APFIM was also the brainchild of Muller and co-workers,3 and it is probably true to say that there is no other area of surface analytical technique that has been so dominated in its early and developmental stages by one man, E.W. Muller, as that of ultra-high resolution imaging and analysis.