Imaging Atom Probe (IAP)
The imaging atom probe (IAP), invented in 1974 by J. A. Panitz, decreased the need to move the tip. In the IAP, ions emitted from the surface are recorded and mass analyzed at a detector placed within 12 cm of the tip (to provide a reasonably large field of view). By "time-gating" the detector for the arrival of a particular species of interest its crystallographic distribution on the surface, and as a function of depth, can be determined. Without time-gating all of the species reaching the detector are analyzed.
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