DIFFERENTIALLY PUMPED LOW-ENERGY ION-BEAM SYSTEM FOR AN ULTRAHIGH-VACUUM ATOM-PROBE FIELD-ION MICROSCOPE

An ultrahigh-vacuum (UHV) differentially pumped low-energy (50-3000 eV) ion beam system for the in situ irradiation of specimens in a UHV atom-probe field-ion microscope (FIM) was designed and constructed. The ion beam system consisted of a Finkelstein-type ion source, an Einzel lens, and a magnetic mass analyzer. The ion source was connected to the analyzer chamber by small apertures which resulted in differential pumping between the ion source and the analyzer chamber; during a typical in situ irradiation of a specimen in the atom-probe FIM the total pressure was maintained at ≈10-7 Torr. In the case of helium ion irradiation the optimum ion-current density was ≈0.5 μA cm-2 for 300-eV He+ ions at the atom-probe FIM specimen. After the completion of a helium ion irradiation the pumpdown time from 5×10-7 to ≈3×10-10 Torr in the atom-probe FIM chamber was 0.5 h.