Atom Probe Analysis of Tungsten Tips Fabricated by Field-assisted Oxygen Etching

It is important to realize electron and ion emitters with small source sizes for high-spatial-resolution microscopy applications. Field-assisted oxygen etching is one of the methods used to form an ultra-sharp tip or nano-protrusion on a large tip; however, the emitting surface that emits electrons...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:E-journal of surface science and nanotechnology 2024/03/02, Vol.22(2), pp.145-148
Main Authors: Nanjo, Masanori, Kuroda, Ikumi, Iwata, Tatsuo, Nagai, Shigekazu
Format: Article
Language:eng ; jpn
Subjects:
Atom probe
Atom probe analysis
Bias
Composition
Electrons
Emitters (electron)
Etching
Field ion microscope
Field strength
Field-assisted oxygen etching
Nanostructure
Oxidation
Oxygen
Tungsten
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Summary:It is important to realize electron and ion emitters with small source sizes for high-spatial-resolution microscopy applications. Field-assisted oxygen etching is one of the methods used to form an ultra-sharp tip or nano-protrusion on a large tip; however, the emitting surface that emits electrons and ions is also oxidized. The composition of the tungsten tips fabricated using the two field-assisted etching methods was analyzed using a pulsed-voltage atom probe. The tip, sharpened using the decreasing bias method during etching, consisted of only tungsten atoms. In the other method, a large base tip with a nano-protrusion, fabricated by applying the fixed bias method during etching, was covered with tungsten oxide, even though the nano-protrusion comprised only tungsten atoms. These differences in composition are attributed to changes in the field strength and region of oxidation during the etching process, which agrees with previously reported models for the analyzed etching methods.
ISSN:1348-0391
1348-0391
DOI:10.1380/ejssnt.2024-007