Evaluation of Analysis Conditions for Laser-Pulsed Atom Probe Tomography: Example of Cemented Tungsten Carbide

Cemented tungsten carbide has been analyzed using laser-pulsed atom probe tomography (APT). The influence of experimental parameters, including laser pulse energy, pulse repetition rate, and specimen base temperature, on the acquired data were evaluated from different aspects, such as mass spectrum, chemical composition, noise-to-signal ratio, and multiple events. Within all the applied analysis conditions, only 1 MHz pulse repetition rate led to a strong detector saturation effect, resulting in a largely biased chemical composition. A comparative study of the laser energy settings showed that an ~12 times higher energy was required for the less focused green laser of the LEAPTM 3000X HR system to achieve a similar evaporation field as the finer spot ultraviolet laser of the LEAPTM 5000 XS system.