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The Effect of Focused Ion Beam (Fib) Specimen Geometry on X-Ray Fluorescence During Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS) Analysis in the Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

David M. Longo
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA22903
James M. Howe
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA22903
William C. Johnson
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA22903
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Extract

The focused ion beam (FIB) has become an indispensable tool for a variety of applications in materials science, including that of specimen preparation for the transmission electron microscope (TEM). Several FIB specimen preparation techniques have been developed, but some problems result when FIB specimens are analyzed in the TEM. One of these is X-ray fluorescence from bulk material surrounding the thin membrane in FIB-prepared samples. This paper reports on a new FIB specimen preparation method which was devised for the reduction of X-ray fluorescence during energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) in the TEM.

Figure 1 shows three membrane geometries that were investigated in this study on a single-crystal Si substrate with a RF sputter-deposited 50 nm Ni film. Membrane 1 is the most commonly reported geometry in the literature, with an approximately 20 urn wide trench and a membrane having a single wedge with a 1.5° incline.

Type
Specimen Preparation
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America

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References

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4. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant DMR-9496133.Google Scholar