Nanoscale imaging of Li and B in nuclear waste glass,a comparison of ToF‐SIMS,NanoSIMS, and APT |
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| Authors: | Yufan Zhou James J Neeway Daniel K Schreiber Jarrod V Crum Joseph V Ryan Xue‐Lin Wang Fuyi Wang Zihua Zhu |
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| Institution: | 1. Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA;2. School of Physics, State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials & Key Laboratory of Particle Physics and Particle Irradiation (MOE), Shandong University, Jinan, China;3. Energy and Environment Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA;4. Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, CAS Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Living Biosystems, Beijing Centre for Mass Spectrometry, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China |
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| Abstract: | It has been very difficult to use popular elemental imaging techniques to image Li and B distribution in glass samples with nanoscale resolution. In this study, time‐of‐flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry, and atom probe tomography (APT) were used to image the distribution of Li and B in two representative glass samples, and their performance was comprehensively compared. APT can provide three‐dimensional Li and B imaging with very high spatial resolution (≤2 nm). In addition, absolute quantification of Li and B is possible, although there remains room for improving accuracy. However, the major drawbacks of APT include poor sample compatibility and limited field of view (normally ≤100 × 100 × 500 nm3). Comparatively, time‐of‐flight secondary ion mass spectrometry and nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry are sample‐friendly with flexible field of view (up to 500 × 500 µm2 and image stitching is feasible); however, lateral resolution is limited to only about 100 nm. Therefore, secondary ion mass spectrometry and APT can be regarded as complementary techniques for nanoscale imaging of Li and B in glass and other novel materials. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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| Keywords: | ToF‐SIMS NanoSIMS APT nanoscale imaging lithium boron nuclear waste glass |
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