Environmental control during transfer between instruments is required for samples sensitive to air or thermal exposure to prevent morphological or chemical changes prior to analysis. Atom probe tomography is a rapidly expanding technique for three-dimensional structural and chemical analysis, but commercial instruments remain limited to loading specimens under ambient conditions. In this study, we describe a multifunctional environmental transfer hub allowing controlled cryogenic or room-temperature transfer of specimens under atmospheric or vacuum pressure conditions between an atom probe and other instruments or reaction chambers. The utility of the environmental transfer hub is demonstrated through the acquisition of previously unavailable mass spectral analysis of an intact organic molecule made possible via controlled cryogenic transfer into the atom probe using the hub. The ability to prepare and transfer specimens in precise environments promises a means to access new science across many disciplines from untainted samples and allow downstream time-resolved in situ atom probe studies.

中文翻译：

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用于多峰原子探针层析成像的环境转移中心。

对于对空气或热敏感的样品，需要在仪器之间转移期间进行环境控制，以防止在分析之前发生形态或化学变化。原子探针层析成像技术是一种快速扩展的技术，可用于三维结构和化学分析，但商用仪器仍然仅限于在环境条件下加载样品。在这项研究中，我们描述了一个多功能的环境转移中心，它允许在大气压或真空压力条件下，在原子探针和其他仪器或反应室之间控制样品的低温或室温转移。通过获取以前无法获得的完整有机分子的质谱分析，证明了环境转移集线器的实用性，该分析是通过使用集线器可控的低温转移到原子探针中实现的。在精确的环境中准备和转移标本的能力为从无污染的样本中跨多个学科获取新科学并允许下游时间分辨原位原子探针研究提供了一种手段。