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SEM studies of surfaces hidden within bulk tissue: A simple technique to control the position and orientation of dry fracture planes
Author(s) -
Hirst Elizabeth M. A.,
Howard James E.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2818.1992.tb03233.x
Subject(s) - fracture (geology) , plane (geometry) , position (finance) , materials science , orientation (vector space) , point (geometry) , simplicity , biological system , computer science , composite material , geology , artificial intelligence , geometry , mathematics , physics , biology , finance , quantum mechanics , economics
SUMMARY A simple, reliable method for the exposure of specific structures hidden within bulk tissue for viewing by SEM is described. The method employs dry fracture after critical‐point drying and differs from other dry fracture methods in that the fracture plane is ‘engineered’ by the experimenter, thus overcoming the tendency for natural planes of weakness within the specimen exclusively to define the fracture plane. The technique retains the simplicity of the very high‐quality in situ cellular relationships normally associated with random dry fracture. Attention is given to novel means of circumventing the artefacts that are normally a problem with dry fracture techniques.