Quantitative analysis of field-ion micrographs using moiré techniques

Abstract

It has previously been demonstrated that the configuration of imaged atoms on the surface of a field-ion emitter may be interpreted as a moiré pattern. As a consequence it becomes possible to relate the structure of each plane in a field-ion image to that of a number of other planes, by means of ring counting procedures, and hence to obtain precise quantitative information concerning the emitter geometry. Here it is shown how the analysis may be applied to an understanding of how the various planar facets develop, to the determination of the relative field evaporation rates of different planes, and to the measurement of more accurate values of local radius.