Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-8kt4b Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-20T02:25:22.444Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Minimization of Non-Uniform Ion-Thinning Effects in Thin Film Transverse Specimens for Transmission Electron Microscopy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

F. Shaapur
Affiliation:
National Facility for High Resolution Electron Microscopy, Center for Solid State Science, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287
K. A. Watson
Affiliation:
National Facility for High Resolution Electron Microscopy, Center for Solid State Science, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287
Get access

Abstract

A computer-controlled, specimen rotation attachment was developed and installed on a commercial ion-milling system for TEM specimen preparation. This rotation method produced relatively large thin areas on a variety of thin film transverse specimens with a difference in the ion-milling rates between the film and the substrate. The results were generally comparable to those obtained by a newly developed low-angle ion-thinning procedure and the overall processing time was considerably shortened.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Klepeis, S.J., Benedict, J.P. and Anderson, R.M., in Specimen Preparation for Transmission Electron Microscopy of Materials ed. by Bravman, J.C. et al. (Mat. Res. Soc. Proc. 115, Pittsburgh, PA 1988), p. 179.Google Scholar
2. Shaapur, F., Pan, M. and Crozier, P., in Proc. 49th EMSA Ann. Meeting ed. by G.W. Bailey and E.L. Hall (San Francisco Press, San Francisco, CA 1991), p. 1118.Google Scholar
3. Helmersson, U. and Sundgren, J.E., J. Elec. Micr. Tech. 4, 361 (1986).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4. Chang, P.H., Coviello, M.D. and Scott, A.F., in Specimen Preparation for Transmission Electron Microscopy of Materials ed. by Bravman, J.C. et al. (Mat. Res. Soc. Proc. 115, Pittsburgh, PA 1988), p. 93.Google Scholar
5. Alani, R., Jones, J. and Swarm, P., in Specimen Preparation for Transmission Electron Microscopy of Materials ed. by Anderson, R.M. (Mat. Res. Soc. Proc. 199, Pittsburgh, PA 1990), p. 85.Google Scholar
6. Commercial systems for rapid ion-thinning at a shallow angle of ion incidence are available from Gatan, Inc. and from Baltec Products, Inc. (Middlebury, CT 06762).Google Scholar
7. Bravman, J.C. and Sinclair, R., J. Elec. Micr. Tech. 4, 361 (1986).Google Scholar