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Project

Laser-assisted atom probe tomography of oxide materials: Field evaporation mechanism study and performance improvement

Ternary/doped oxides that exhibit electronic/ionic conductivity are essential for a wide range of applications, e.g. as transparent conductors in photovoltaics and flexible electronics, or as an ion conducting solid electrolyte for Li ion batteries. The electronic/ionic conductivity of these oxides is determined by structural properties at the atomic scale. Therefore, atomic scale control during synthesis and atomic scale characterization of the elemental distribution and migration of elemental species is essential. In this thesis, we aim to perform atomic scale characterization of complex oxides with tunable electronic and ionic conductivity through atom probe tomography (APT). In APT a tip-shaped sample is peeled off, atom by atom, and each atom is ‘weighed’ allowing us to identify which element it is, providing a full 3D atomic scale reconstruction of the sample. By creating fundamental insight in and optimizing of LAPT-based metrology of complex oxide layers, we expect to understand of the correlation between the atomic-scale 3D-compositional distribution and the electronic/ionic conductivity. Furthermore, we will be able to fine-tune the electronic/ionic conductivity of complex oxides by controlling the chamber parameters during film growth.

Date:15 May 2018 →  18 Dec 2020
Keywords:Atomic-scale investigation of the structure/composition of the oxides, Atom probe tomography on (non-)conducting oxides, Growth-composition-functionality relationship
Disciplines:Instructional sciences, Classical physics, Elementary particle and high energy physics, Other physical sciences, Applied mathematics in specific fields, Quantum physics, Condensed matter physics and nanophysics, Nuclear physics
Project type:PhD project