Materials For Transmission Electron Microscopy Research Articles

Preparation and ion beam machining of ceramic materials for transmission electron microscopy

A technique is described for rapid preparation of ceramics prior to ion beam thinning. Guidance is given on the ion beam thinning conditions necessary to achieve a reasonable thinning rate with minimum loss of uniformity and damage to the specimen. |fr|Une technique de préparation d'échantillons céramiques, précédant l'amincissement par bombardement ionique, est décrite ci-dessous. Des conditions optimums d'amincissement par bombardement ionique sont indiqueés en vue d'obtenir un taux d'amincissement maximum combiné à une réduction au minimum de perte d'uniformité et de dommages aux échantillons. |de|Die rasche Herstellung von Keramik vor Ionenstrahlverdünnung wird beschrieben. Anleitungen für die Herstellung von Ionenstrahlverdünnungsbedingungen werden gegeben, welche für Verdünnungsgeschwindigkeiten mit minimalem Uniformitätsverlust und geringer Probenschädigung nötig sind.

Ion Etching Studies with Varied Materials

With the evolution of ion thinning in the latter 50's and its acceptance and application by the microscopist in the last few years, attention has been focused on the ability to prepare specimens from a polycrystalline or multiphase materials for transmission electron microscopy. Subsequent to the initial and significant results with alumina, work has been undertaken to show the versatility of this technique with a wide variety of materials. It is the purpose of this paper to describe the numerous types of ion etched specimens which have been successfully analyzed. Experience involving hundreds of specimens prepared with an Ion Micro Milling Instrument, often called IMMI.The electronic industry has found uses for this type of,equipment with semiconductor materials such as silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide, gallium phosphate, barium titinate, and niobium tin. The most work to date has been done with silicon. Fig. 2 shows a recent photomicrograph of GaAs where lattice planes are visible throughout the matrix. Extensive research has been undertaken with ceramic materials including aluminum oxide, zerconia, and magnesium oxide.