UK Atom Probe Tomography Workshop 2025

Culham recently hosted the UK Atom Probe Tomography Workshop, which saw 47 attendees from 12 organisations across the country come together to share research from the past year and support the connections amongst the Atom Probe Tomography (APT) community. 

The meeting began with talks given on the theory behind the technique and the various preparation methods used to generate samples ready for analysis. These talks aimed to give new and prospective users of APT a solid introduction to the technique and an understanding of the physical processes governing it.

Following the introductory talks for new users, talks and posters on a wide variety of topics were presented, including (but certainly not limited to):

• Correlative Characterisation of the Magnetic Microstructures in the Cloudy Zone of Iron-Nickel Meteorites

• Atom Probe for Fusion Materials Applications

• How Accurately Does APT Measure the Composition of Small Solute Clusters?

All the presentations given offered a wonderful insight into some of the many disciplines throughout the scientific community using APT as a materials characterisation tool. 

Following the conclusion of the technical presentations, a useful demonstration was given on AtomProbeLab and 3Depict – novel data analysis tools which can be utilised by atom probe users of all experience levels to further what information is possible to extract from their data reconstructions.

One feature of this workshop which is often not available at broader disciplined events was an open section of the programme during which attendees could present a slide their complex data or recent problems to the group, allowing for explanations and suggestions to be made by the experts in the technique. Sections such as this and the informal group dinner held in Oxford help contribute to the ongoing collaboration and closeness within the APT community.

Report on 2024 UK-APT Workshop for IFES

The 2nd occurrence of the UK APT national workshop took place on 14th November 2024 in St. Catherine’s College Oxford, organized by the Oxford Atom Probe group, with logistical support from Blue Scientific. It received £1000 of support from IFES, along with further financial support from Cameca/Blue Scientific and Oxford Atomic. This one-day workshop was designed to include zero registration/food costs for attendees, to maximise inclusion and to continue to build the UK community.

In total there were 55 attendees. These included a high proportion of graduate researchers from the three universities currently equipped with Cameca LEAP systems in the UK (Oxford, Imperial College and Brunel), along with researchers regularly engaging in their own AP activities from Bristol, Glasgow and industry nuclear partners NNL and UKAEA.

Talks were by invitation and were broadly themed around the issues of optimizing sample preparation and running efficacy. Topics included a mix of metallurgy, geo/planetary applications, cryo liquid-solid interfaces, semiconductor devices and nuclear materials. The schedule also featured a talk presented by David Reinhard from Cameca, and a lunch poster session for delegates to showcase their work and network. Following a drinks reception at the end of the event, many attendees engaged further in networking over dinner in Oxford.

Following the event, Blue Scientific sent out a survey capturing delegates feedback from this event and their views around future meetings. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with a high proportion also in favour of potentially extending the workshop into a second day.

Organisation of both events to date has been by James Douglas, Paul Bagot and James Famelton. All three wish to create a more formal structure to better support the future of these events, therefore discussions are underway to include one industrial seat and one further academic seat to a steering committee of 5 (Oxford, Imperial College and Brunel to retain permanent status in this). This group will seek to engage closely with IFES and the European AP community to build on the success of both events to date.

2023 UK APT Workshop

The 2023 UK APT Workshop was held at the Imperial College London White City Campus on October 26th and 27th with the support of Cameca, Blue Scientific and the International Field Emission Society (IFES).  The workshop consisted of two days, the first being presentations and discussion and the second being practical sessions for atom probe best practice in association with Cameca and demonstrations of the vacuum/cryogenic transfer capabilities with Imperial College London’s new centre for the Cryo Microscopy of Materials.

There were 50 attendees for the presentation and discussion and 15 attendees for the practical sessions. Presentations were given from representatives from atom probe users from Imperial College London, the University of Oxford, Brunel University, the UK Atomic Energy Agency about how atom probe is currently being used in their research, along with an invited presentation from Cameca on atom probe best practice.

Attendees included representatives from: Imperial College London The University of Oxford Brunel University  The University of Cambridge The Open University  The University of Bristol The UK Atomic Energy Agency Blue Scientific Cameca Instruments