Thermal effects on mass and spatial resolution during laser pulse atom probe tomography of cerium oxide

► Cerium oxide, a surrogate for nuclear fuels, was used for atom probe tomography. ► Stoichiometric field evaporation of CeO2 was produced using laser pulsed APT. ► The effect of laser energy and specimen base temperature was studied. ► Mass resolving power was optimized for the run conditions with high specimen yield. ► Spatial resolution in the nm-scale was maximized by reducing laser energy.