Scalable substrate development for aqueous sample preparation for atom probe tomography

Reliable and consistent preparation of atom probe tomography (APT) specimens from aqueous and hydrated biological specimens remains a significant challenge. One particularly difficult process step is the use of a focused ion beam (FIB) instrument for preparing the required needle-shaped specimen, typically involving a 'lift-out' procedure of a small sample of material. Here, two alternative substrate designs are introduced that enable using FIB only for sharpening, along with example APT datasets. The first design is a laser-cut FIB-style half-grid close to those used for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) that can be used in a grid holder compatible with APT pucks. The second design is a larger, standalone self-supporting substrate called a 'crown', with several specimen positions, which self-aligns in APT pucks, prepared by electrical discharge machining (EDM). Both designs are made nanoporous, to provide strength to the liquid-substrate interface, using chemical and vacuum dealloying. Alpha brass, a simple, widely available, lower-cost alternative to previously proposed substrates, was selected for this work. The resulting designs and APT data are presented and suggestions are provided to help drive wider community adoption.