Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 11, 2026

Atomic Force Microscopy Cantilever-Based Nanoindentation: Mechanical Property Measurements at the Nanoscale in Air and Fluid
Published on: December 2, 2022
Quantitative binomial distribution analyses of nanoscale like-solute atom clustering and segregation in atom probe
Michael P Moody1, Leigh T Stephenson, Anna V Ceguerra
1Australian Key Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia. m.moody@usyd.edu.au
Abstract:
The applicability of the binomial frequency distribution is outlined for the analysis of the evolution nanoscale atomic clustering of dilute solute in an alloy subject to thermal ageing in 3D atom probe data. The conventional chi(2) statistics and significance testing are demonstrated to be inappropriate for comparison of quantity of solute segregation present in two or more different sized system. Pearson coefficient, mu, is shown to normalize chi(2) with respect to sample size over an order of magnitude. A simple computer simulation is implemented to investigate the binomial analysis and infer meaning in the measured value of mu over a series of systems at different solute concentrations and degree of clustering. The simulations replicate the form of experimental data and demonstrate the effect of detector efficiency to significantly underestimate the measured segregation. The binomial analysis is applied to experimental atom probe data sets and complementary simulations are used to interpret the results.
Related Concept Videos
Atomic Structure
Atomic Orbitals
Atomic Mass
The Energies of Atomic Orbitals
Hybridization of Atomic Orbitals I
The Atomic Theory of Matter

