IMPLEMENTATION OF AN OPTICAL TAP - PRELIMINARY-RESULTS

The FIM Group of the University of Rouen is developing a new type of d etector that can be used in atom probe and 3D atom probe applications. This detector consists of an array of conductive and transparent stri ps covered with a phosphorescent material. After having produced light , electrons generated by ionic impacts onto microchannel plates produc e signals on strips that are used for timing. At the same time, light produced by ions on the phosphor screen is recorded by means of a CCD image sensor. Then, the comparison between positions and the distribut ion of time of flight on the strip array makes it possible to correlat e positions and times for each event. In this contribution, preliminar y results obtained with a 5 x 5 cm(2) detector having eight strips wil l be shown. Potential capabilities and performance will be discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.