Premium
Applied focused ion beam techniques for sample preparation of astromaterials for integrated nanoanalysis
Author(s) -
Graham Giles A.,
Teslich Nick E.,
Kearsley Anton T.,
Stadermann Frank J.,
Stroud Rhonda M.,
Dai Zurong,
Ishii Hope A.,
Hutcheon Ian D.,
Bajt Saša,
Snead Christopher J.,
Weber Peter K.,
Bradley John P.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
meteoritics and planetary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.09
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1945-5100
pISSN - 1086-9379
DOI - 10.1111/j.1945-5100.2008.tb00672.x
Subject(s) - focused ion beam , materials science , ion beam , sample preparation , ion , secondary ion mass spectrometry , sample (material) , micrometer , analytical chemistry (journal) , mass spectrometry , nanotechnology , beam (structure) , optics , chemistry , chromatography , physics , organic chemistry
— Sample preparation is always a critical step in the study of micrometer‐sized astromaterials available for study in the laboratory, whether their subsequent analysis is by electron microscopy or secondary ion mass spectrometry. A focused beam of gallium ions has been used to prepare electron transparent sections from an interplanetary dust particle (IDP), as part of an integrated analysis protocol to maximize the mineralogical, elemental, isotopic, and spectroscopic information extracted from one individual particle. In addition, focused ion beam (FIB) techniques have been employed to extract cometary residue preserved on the rims and walls of microcraters in 1100 series aluminum foils that were wrapped around the sample tray assembly on the Stardust cometary sample collector. Non‐ideal surface geometries and inconveniently located regions of interest required creative solutions. These include support pillar construction and relocation of a significant portion of sample to access a region of interest. Serial sectioning, in a manner similar to ultramicrotomy, is a significant development and further demonstrates the unique capabilities of focused ion beam microscopy for sample preparation of astromaterials.