NUCAPT

Northwestern University Center for Atom-Probe Tomography Welcome to NUCAPT NUCAPT is a research facility at Northwestern University directed by Founding Director Prof. David N. Seidman and Associate Director Prof. Derk Joester, and managed by Research Prof. Dieter Isheim. Watch this 4:31 min video to learn more about NUCAPT and high-resolution chemical imaging by three-dimensional atom-probe tomography (APT). APT produces a three-dimensional (3D) atom-by-atom elementally and isotopically resolved image with sub-nanometer spatial resolution of a sample volume typically 100 x 100 x 300 nm3, by simultaneous high resolution direct-space imaging and atom-by-atom time of flight mass spectrometry. APT is particularly suited to study nano- or nanostructured materials. If you have questions about atom probe tomography or are interested in having your specimens analyzed at our facility, please complete this form or send us an e-mail; see the contact info in the profile of our facility manager. Start a Project Here
Acknowledgements We depend on your acknowledging instrument usage at our NUCAPT facility and any staff support, by always including an appropriate acknowledgement statement in all publications, presentations, and releases containing data collected at NUCAPT. The default acknowledgement statement is as follows: Acknowledgements: Atom-probe tomography was performed at the Northwestern University Center for Atom-Probe Tomography (NUCAPT). The LEAP tomograph at NUCAPT was purchased and upgraded with grants from the NSF-MRI (DMR-0420532) and ONR-DURIP (N00014-0400798, N00014-0610539, N00014-0910781, N00014-1712870) programs. NUCAPT received support from the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center, the SHyNE Resource (NSF ECCS-2025633), and the Initiative for Sustainability and Energy (ISEN) at Northwestern University. Also important: please send us your publications and citations that include work done at NUCAPT so that we can keep out literature database up to date!
See the historic VG FIM100 Atom Probe at the Field Museum NUCAPT's historic Vacuum Generator VG FIM100 atom probe field ion microscope (APFIM) is exhibited at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, since April 2021. Prominently featured is the Poschenrieder lens with the slightly angled flight tube at the left top that bestowed this instrument with excellent mass resolution. We will provide more information how to best pay a visit as we gather details. VG100 atom probe at the Field Museum. The FIM100 APFIM had previously been exhibited at Chicago's O'Hare airport, Gate B11 (2016-2017), Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry (2015-2016) as reported in this article in the Chicago Tribune, and the Harold Washington Library of Chicago's Public Library system (2019-2021). visit our gallery with more photos and research nuggets from throughout NUCAPT's history
COVID-19 update: Beginning Feb. 28, masking is optional in University research labs. Masks will remain a requirement in classrooms, lab-based classes and other spaces where instruction takes place at least through March 19. We continue our program for remote access to our IVAS computer workstations. For details please consult with NUCAPT facility management. Please also see Northwestern's central core facilities status page, university guidelines, and university status page for details of the current regulations and recommendations.
Announcements A short video describes NUCAPT and the new data management and publication service, developed in collaboration with CHiMAD-MDF. The new NUCAPT data server manager is online now and can be accessed at NUCAPT Data Server Our LEAP tomograph has been upgraded in 2017 to a LEAP5000XS configuration (CAMECA), featuring a single-atom position-sensitive time-of-flight detector with approximately 80% detection efficiency, compared to 50% efficiency with our old LEAP4000 instrument before the upgrade. Congratulations to both Divya Jain and Sumit Bhattacharya, on the successful defense of their thesis. Good luck, Doctors! The Seidman Group welcomes Francesca Long, a first year graduate student in the department. The Seidman Group welcomes visiting student Dong An from Southeast University.	Press Professor David Seidman is receiving the 2020 Distinguished Scientist Award of the Microscopy Society of America. This Award recognizes preeminent senior scientists from both the Biological and Physical disciplines who have a long-standing record of achievement during their career in the field of microscopy or microanalysis. Congratulations, David! Congratulations to Professor David Seidman for receiving the 2019 Peter Duncumb Award for Excellence in Microanalysis from the Microanalysis Society (MAS). The award ceremony was held at the M&M2019 conference in Portland, OR, on Aug. 5th, 2019. Professor David Seidman was awarded the 2019 Gold Medal from ASM International, “for quantitative applications of field-ion microscopy and atom-probe tomography for solving a very broad range of materials problems from different materials classes in conjunction with other characterization tools.” Seidman will officially receive the medal at the MS&T19 conference in Portland, OR. Congratulations! Congratulations to Professor David Seidman for his election to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Election to the academy is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Seidman is one of 83 new members and 16 new foreign members announced by the NAE on February 7, 2018. Seidman was cited by NAE for “contributions to understanding of materials at the atomic scale, leading to advanced materials and processes.” He will be formally inducted during a ceremony at the NAE’s annual meeting on September 30, 2018 in Washington, D.C. Congratulations on Dr. Dieter Isheim's winning the AIME Champion H. Mathewson Award, 2016. This is a very prestigious award from the TMS, which award is named after Champion H. Mathewson. Chammpion H. Mathewson was a pioneering physical metallurgist in the USA, who had most of his career at Yale University, 43 years. A round of applause for Dr. Dieter Isheim. NUCAPT participates in the recently announced Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) resource, part of a new NSF program for National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure - See more at this press release Professor David Seidman has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2014 Professor David Seidman has been given the AIME-TMS(Minerals*Metals*Materials) Honorary Member Award, 2014 An article feature APT work from Dieter Isheim and David Seidman was featured in Nature Press Release David Seidman is elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS). Professor David Seidman is chosen for the prestigious David Turnbull Lecturer Award, December 3, 2008. Also covered by Northwestern Older news

Literature

Common Searches

• arXiv preprints
• Papers from 2019
• Papers from 2018
• Papers from 2017
• Papers from 2016
• Recent Ph.D. theses
• Seidman papers
• 49th IFES
• 50th IFES
• Mat. Char. APT issue
• M & M APT issue
• MRS Bull. APT issue
• NU's Al-Sc research

Recent articles from the Seidman group

• Ma, Kaka; Wen, Haiming; Hu, Tao; Topping, Troy D.; Isheim, Dieter; Seidman, David N.; Lavernia, Enrique J.; Schoenung, Julie M. (2014). "Mechanical behavior and strengthening mechanisms in ultrafine grain precipitation-strengthened aluminum alloy". Acta Materialia 62: 141-155. 
• Plotnikov, Elizaveta Y.; Mao, Zugang; Noebe, Ronald D.; Seidman, David N. (2014). "Temporal evolution of the g(fcc)/g'(L12) interfacial width in binary Ni–Al alloys". Scripta Materialia 70 (1): 51-54. 
• Vo, Nhon Q.; Dunand, David C.; Seidman, David N. (2014). "Improving aging and creep resistance in a dilute Al–Sc alloy by microalloying with Si, Zr and Er". Acta Materialia 63 (15): 73-85. 
• 'Bocchini, Peter J.; Lass, Eric A.; Moon, K-W; Campbell, Carolyn E.; Kattner, Ursula R.; Dunand, David C.; Seidman, David N.' (2013). "Atom-probe tomographic study of g/g' interfaces and compositions in an aged Co–Al–W superalloy". Scripta Materialia 68 (8): 563-566. 
• Kim, Yoon-Jun; Tao, Runzhe; Klie, Robert F. (2013). "Direct Atomic-Scale Imaging of Hydrogen and Oxygen Interstitials in Pure Niobium Using Atom-Probe Tomography and Aberration-Corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy". ACS Nano 7 (1): 732-739. 
• Baik, Sung-Il (2013). "Correlative atom-probe tomography and transmission electron microscope study of a chemical transition in a spinel on an oxidized nickel-based superalloy". Scripta Materialia 68 (11): 909-912. 
• Isheim, Dieter; Stadermann, Frank J.; Lewis, Josiah B.; Floss, Christine; Daulton, Tyrone L.; Davis, Andrew M.; Heck, Philipp R.; Pellin, Michael J.; Savina, Michael R.; Seidman, David N.; Stephan, Thomas (2013). "Combining Atom-Probe Tomography and Focused-Ion Beam Microscopy to Study Individual Presolar Meteoritic Nanodiamond Particles". Microscopy and Microanalysis 19: 974-975. 
• Ford, Denise C.; Cooley, Lance D. (2013). "Suppression of hydride precipitates in niobium superconducting radio-frequency cavities". Superconducting Science and Technology 26 (10). 
• Moutanabbir, Oussama; Isheim, Dieter; Blumtritt, Horst; Senz, Stephan; Pippel, Eckhard; Seidman, David N. (2013). "Colossal injection of catalyst atoms into silicon nanowires". Nature 496 (7443): 78-82. 
• Wang, J.-S.; Mulholland, M.D.; Olson, G.B. (2013). "Prediction of the yield strength of a secondary-hardening steel" 61 (13): 4939-4952. 
• Zhou, Yang; Isheim, Dieter; Hsieh, Gillian; Noebe, Ronald D. (2013). "Effects of ruthenium on phase separation in a model Ni–Al–Cr–Ru superalloy". Philosophical Magazine 93 (10-12): 1326-1350. 

We depend on your acknowledging our staff support, our NUCAPT facility, and by always including an appropriate acknowledgement statement in all publications, presentations, and releases containing data collected at NUCAPT. The default acknowledgement statement is as follows:

Acknowledgements: Atom-probe tomography was performed at the Northwestern University Center for Atom-Probe Tomography (NUCAPT). The LEAP tomograph at NUCAPT was purchased and upgraded with grants from the NSF-MRI (DMR-0420532) and ONR-DURIP (N00014-0400798, N00014-0610539, N00014-0910781, N00014-1712870) programs. NUCAPT received support from the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center, the SHyNE Resource (NSF ECCS-2025633), and the Initiative for Sustainability and Energy (ISEN) at Northwestern University.

Equally important: please send us your publications and citations that include work done at NUCAPT !

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