A LEAP 5000 XS for the UK National Atom Probe Facility

This proposal is to install a state-of-the-art Local Electrode Atom Probe (LEAP) 5000 XS at the University of Oxford. Atom probe tomography (APT) is a type of microscopy that provides unique insight into 3D atomic distributions within materials at a scale that even the most advanced electron microscopes cannot routinely achieve. Hence APT is now an indispensable materials characterisation tool used in major international materials laboratories around the world. The APT technique was pioneered in the UK, and for the past 30 years the Oxford Atom Probe Laboratory, a unique national facility, has maintained an international reputation for highly innovative APT research. The need for atomic-scale microstructural information is increasingly important for the design and development of the next generation of higher performance materials and devices. Hence, the unique insights provided by APT have become essential to advance understanding within a steadily increasing number of research programmes around the UK. The two atom probe instruments installed at Oxford currently serve the research needs of the entirety of UK academia and industry. However, the older of these instruments is now no longer technologically sustainable and must be decommissioned. Hence, a new atom probe is urgently required to meet the current, and increasing, access demands for APT and to keep the UK competitive across a variety of key materials research topics. The main outcome of this proposal will be continuing to increase visibility of and access to APT for researchers around the UK. The LEAP 5000 XS will allow us to address key analytical problems and generate greater impact in projects of strategic importance in the research groups of academic staff at Oxford and our Co-Is at universities, as well as working on projects with a wide range of industrial partners. The specific themes we will work on will use the LEAP 5000 XS to contribute to the development of novel materials across a wide range of applications, including efficient green energy materials, aerospace and automotive alloys, and even bio-implants, and to assist UK industry to maintain competitiveness and grow market share.