Behavior of molecules and molecular ions near a field emitter
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The cold emission of particles from surfaces under intense electric fields is a process which underpins a variety of applications including atom probe tomography (APT), an analytical microscopy technique with near-atomic spatial resolution. Increasingly relying on fast laser pulsing to trigger the emission, APT experiments often incorporate the detection of molecular ions emitted from the specimen, in particular from covalently or ionically bonded materials. Notably, it has been proposed that neutral molecules can also be emitted during this process. However, this remains a contentious issue. To investigate the validity of this hypothesis, a careful review of the literature is combined with the development of new methods to treat experimental APT data, the modeling of ion trajectories, and the application of density-functional theory simulations to derive molecular ion energetics. It is shown that the direct thermal emission of neutral molecules is extremely unlikely. However, neutrals can still be formed in the course of an APT experiment by dissociation of metastable molecular ions.
Date Issued
2016-03-18
Date Acceptance
2016-03-01
Citation
New Journal of Physics, 2016, 18 (3), pp.1-16
ISSN
1367-2630
Publisher
Institute of Physics (IoP) and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft
Start Page
1
End Page
16
Journal / Book Title
New Journal of Physics
Volume
18
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000373727300003&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Physics
field evaporation
field ionization
atom probe tomography (APT)
molecular dissociation
ATOM-PROBE TOMOGRAPHY
POSITION-SENSITIVE DETECTOR
EVAPORATED IONS
POST-IONIZATION
DIRECTIONAL WALK
ELECTRIC-FIELDS
CHARGE STATES
CLUSTER IONS
DESORPTION
MICROSCOPE
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
033031
Date Publish Online
2016-03-18