Fabrication and characterization of APT specimens from high dose heavy ion irradiated materials

The next generations of advanced energy systems will require materials that can withstand high doses of irradiation at elevated temperatures. Therefore, a methodology has been developed for the fabrication of high-dose ion-irradiated atom probe tomography specimens at a specific dose with the use of a focused ion beam milling system. The method also enables the precise ion dose of the atom probe tomography specimen to be estimated from the local concentration of the implanted ions. The method has been successfully applied to the characterization of the distribution of nanoclusters in a radiation-tolerant 14YWT nanostructured ferritic steel under ion irradiation to doses up to 400 displacements per atom.