AFM微探针在FIB制备透射电镜样品中的应用

制备目标材料的高质量透射电镜样品对透射电镜测试表征和结果分析具有决定性作用。聚焦离子束技术由于其微观定位选区制样的优势在透射电镜样品制备上已有一定应用。但对于一些特殊的样品,由于窗帘效应的影响,普通传统的聚焦离子束制样减薄方法存在远端薄区极易弯曲断裂和薄区厚度不均匀的问题。本文介绍了一种以原子力显微镜的微探针作为载体,在FIB制备透射电镜样品的过程中,将样品进行旋转的操作方法。该方法操作简单,实用性强,通过该方法可改变离子束在样品上的入射方向,从而消除窗帘效应的影响,获得厚度均匀的样品薄区。

Applications of AFM microprobe in the preparation of TEM sample by focused ion beam technique

Preparation of high quality sample of target material has a decisive role in the characterization and subsequent analyzation by transmission electron microscopy.Focused ion beam technique has a certain application to the sample preparation for transmission electron microscopy due to its site-specific advantage. But for some special samples, due to the impact of the curtain effect, bending fracture and non-uniform thickness of the thin area are common problems for traditional TEM-sample preparation method by focused ion beam technique. In this paper, a new method of rotating the sample was introduced. In this method, an atomic force microscope probe was used as the carrier during the course of TEM-sample preparation by focused ion beam technique. This method is easy to apply. Using this method,the effect of curtain effect can be eliminated by changing the incident direction of ion beam on the sample. Besides, the sample thin area with uniform thickness can be obtained.