A position-sensitive detector system based on a wedge-and-strip anode has been used to build a short flight-path atom probe which identifies both the chemical nature and position of single atoms field evaporated from the surface of a field-ion specimen. The detector also allows digitized field-ion images to be obtained from the region being analyzed. The prototype instrument has a lateral resolution during analysis of substantially below 1 nm, and a depth resolution of one atomic layer. Initial applications of the instrument to the analysis of nanometer-scale precipitates in metallic alloys has shown the capability of reconstructing the three-dimensional microstructure and microchemistry of materials.

A wide acceptance angle first-order reflectron lens has been incorporated into a three-dimensional atom probe ͑3DAP͒ to provide improved mass resolution. This new 3DAP instrument is capable of resolving isotopes in the mass spectrum, with resolutions better than m/⌬mϭ500 full width at half maximum and 250 full width at 10% maximum. However, use of a reflectron for energy compensation within an imaging system means that improvements in mass resolution result in degradation of the spatial resolution. This article addresses the detailed design of the energy compensated 3DAP, and the minimization and compensation of chromatic aberrations in the imaging performance of the instrument. Some applications of the new instrument are included to illustrate its capabilities in the atomic-scale analysis of engineering alloys.

Lab activities are an important element of an undergraduate physics course. In these lab activities, students construct and interpret graphs in order to connect the procedures of the lab with an understanding of the related physics concepts. This study investigated undergraduate students' construction and interpretation of graphs with best-fit lines in the context of two physics lab activities. Students' graphs were evaluated for overall graph quality and for the quality of the best-fit line. The strategies students used and their understanding of the meaning of the graph were accessed through interviews. The results suggest that undergraduate introductory physics students can successfully construct graphs with best-fit lines while not connecting the meaning of the graph to the underlying physics concepts. Furthermore, results indicated that the most challenging aspect of constructing a graph is setting up the scale, and that graphing is situated in specific contexts.

A wavelength dependent study investigating the low-lying (1)La and (1)Lb states, both possessing (1)ππ* character, and the (1)πσ* state in the deactivation process of indole is presented here. Relaxation dynamics following excitation at 241, 250, 260, 270, 273, and 282 nm are examined using three gas-phase, pump-probe spectroscopic techniques: (1) hydrogen atom (H-atom) time-resolved kinetic energy release (TR-KER), (2) time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (TR-PES), and (3) time-resolved ion yield (TR-IY). Applied in combination, a more complete picture of the indole relaxation dynamics may be gleaned. For instance, TR-PES experiments directly observe all relaxation pathways by probing the evolution of the excited states following photoexcitation; whereas, TR-KER measurements indirectly, yet specifically, probe for (1)πσ*-state activity through the detection of H-atoms eliminated along the indole nitrogen-hydrogen (N-H) stretch coordinate-a possible outcome of (1)πσ*-state relaxation in indole. In addition, mass information obtained via TR-IY monitors fragmentation dynamics that may occur within the neutral electronically excited and/or cationic states. The work herein assesses the onset and importance of the (1)πσ* state at various pump wavelengths by systematically tuning across the ultraviolet absorption spectrum of indole with a particular focus on those pump wavelengths longer than 263 nm, where the involvement of the (1)πσ* state is under current debate. As far as this experimental work is concerned, there does not appear to be any significant involvement by the (1)πσ* state in the indole relaxation processes following excitation at 270, 273, or 282 nm. This investigation also evaluates the primary orbital promotions contributing to the (1)La, (1)Lb, and (1)πσ* transitions based on ionization preferences observed in TR-PES spectra. Relaxation time constants associated with dynamics along these states are also reported for excitation at all of the aforementioned pump wavelengths and are used to pinpoint the origin of the discrepancies found in the literature. In this context, advantages and disadvantages of the three experimental techniques are discussed.