The atomic probe in physical metallurgy: present limits and future prospects

The atomic probe is a quantitative analysis instrument with a very high space resolution (1 nm). Profiles of concentration in depth, with a resolution to an atomic scale, may be obtained. However, the space resolution - accuracy compromise on the concentrations and the monodimensional aspect of the analysis leads to the actual limits of the atomic probe. The development of a new generation of instruments, the 3D atomic probe, opens new prospects for materials science: exploration of material in three dimensions at a scale close to the atom