The future of atom probe tomography

History has taught us that every time a new form of microscopy or type of microscope is introduced, major advances are made in the understanding of materials. For example, the light or optical microscope introduced the world to microbes and micro-organisms around 1600 AD, and the electron microscope to dislocations in materials over 50 years ago(1-3). Today many different forms of microscopy have been developed but the ultimate goal of seeing, accurately locating, and identifying all the atoms in a specimen is still elusive. Atom probe tomography and electron microscopy are the mainstays of atomic resolution microscopy of bulk materials. However, neither technique can accomplish this goal in the bulk of a specimen at the present time.