Filling the Gap: Atom Probe Tomography of Porous Structures Enabled by Site Specific SEMGlu Curing

TL;DR

This paper presents a new in situ pore filling technique that enables atom probe tomography analysis of porous materials by integrating a vacuum-compatible resin curing process into standard specimen preparation workflows.

Contribution

The authors introduce a novel, practical pore filling method using electron beam curing of resin during ion beam preparation, facilitating APT analysis of porous structures without additional equipment.

Findings

Effective APT analysis of porous SnSe + MXene electrode achieved

Method simplifies specimen preparation for porous materials

Extends APT capabilities to previously challenging porous systems

Abstract

Porous microstructures, while central to many functional materials, remain difficult to characterize quantitatively by atom probe tomography (APT). Although several strategies have been proposed over the past decade, most remain constrained by significant practical or technical limitations. Here, we introduce an in situ pore filling approach that integrates seamlessly into conventional specimen preparation workflows. The method employs a vacuum compatible resin that is rapidly cured by the electron beam during standard ion beam based preparation, eliminating the need for additional instrumentation or extensive sample handling. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach using a porous SnSe + MXene electrode, a material system otherwise difficult to analyze via APT characterisation. This method offers a robust, accessible solution for extending APT analysis to porous materials