Standard deviations of composition measurements in atom probe analyses—Part II: 3D atom probe

In a companion paper [F. Danoix, G. Grancher, A. Bostel, D. Blavette, Surf. Interface Anal. this issue (previous paper).], the derivation of variances of the estimates of measured composition, and the underlying hypotheses, have been revisited in the the case of conventional one dimensional (1D) atom probes.In this second paper, we will concentrate on the analytical derivation of the variance when the estimate of composition is obtained from a 3D atom probe. As will be discussed, when the position information is available, compositions can be derived either from constant number of atoms, or from constant volume, blocks. The analytical treatment in the first case is identical to the one developed for conventional 1D instruments, and will not be discussed further in this paper. Conversely, in the second case, the analytical treatment is different, as well as the formula of the variance. In particular, it will be shown that the detection efficiency plays an important role in the determination of the variance.