  Atom probe tomography is frequently employed to characterize the elemental
distribution in solids with atomic resolution. Here we review and discuss the
potential of this technique to locally probe chemical bonds. Two processes
characterize the bond rupture in laser-assisted field emission, the probability
of molecular ions, i.e. the probability that molecular ions (PMI) are
evaporated instead of single (atomic) ions, and the probability of multiple
events, i.e. the correlated field-evaporation of more than a single fragment
(PME) upon laser- or voltage pulse excitation. Here we demonstrate that one can
clearly distinguish solids with metallic, covalent, and metavalent bonds based
on their bond rupture, i.e. their PME and PMI values. Differences in the field
penetration depth can largely explain these differences in bond breaking. These
findings open new avenues in understanding and designing advanced materials,
since they allow a quantification of bonds in solids on a nanometer scale, as
will be shown for several examples. These possibilities would even justify
calling the present approach bonding probe tomography (BPT).
