Save the LEAP

Atom probe tomography is the highest spatial resolution analytical instrument that exists. It produces three-dimensional images where each atom is identified and positioned at the atomic scale. The technique has its origins in field electron emission microscopy and field ion microscopy which were pioneered by Professor Erwin H. Müller at the Pennsylvania State University in the 1940s through 1960s. We recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of the atom probe’s invention (2017). Unfortunately, none of Professor Müller’s instruments have survived to posterity.

With the advent of the Local Electrode Atom Probe (LEAP), the technique began to achieve wider utilization. The first production LEAP was built by Imago Scientific Instruments circa 2001 ((see image below). This instrument, the LEAP Beta, was sold to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in 2002. The LEAP Beta was in service until 2015, but it has been decommissioned at ORNL. Only one LEAP Beta was ever made and it is the oldest LEAP in existence. In 2017, the one hundredth LEAP was shipped. The number of users has ballooned to thousands.

In our opinion, the LEAP Beta is an important historical instrument in microscopy and microanalysis that must be saved for posterity. An effort is underway by the microscopy community to secure the instrument as it is being auctioned from surplus property at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. We are hoping to raise enough money to purchase the instrument and donate it to an appropriate museum. For example, the newly opened atom probe museum (AtomProbeMuseum.com) created by John Panitz in Albuquerque, NM is a candidate. We also intend to talk with the Smithsonian Institution. 
CAMECA Instruments has already committed $1000 to the cause.