Premium
Low damage lamella preparation of metallic materials by FIB processing with low acceleration voltage and a low incident angle Ar ion milling finish
Author(s) -
SATO T.,
AIZAWA Y.,
MATSUMOTO H.,
KIYOHARA M.,
KAMIYA C.,
VON CUBE F.
Publication year - 2020
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/jmi.12878
Subject(s) - materials science , acceleration voltage , ion milling machine , focused ion beam , lamella (surface anatomy) , transmission electron microscopy , polishing , argon , composite material , ion , nanotechnology , electron , cathode ray , chemistry , physics , organic chemistry , layer (electronics) , quantum mechanics
Summary Metallic materials are known to be very sensitive to Gallium (Ga) focused ion beam (FIB) processing. Crystal defects formed by FIB irradiation degrade the transmission electron microscope image quality, and it is difficult to distinguish original defects from FIB process‐induced damage. A solution to this problem is the low acceleration voltage and low incident angle (LVLA) Argon ion milling, which can be incorporated as an extensional countermeasure for FIB damage removal and eventually for preparation of high‐quality lamellae. The transmission electron microscope image quality of iron single crystal could be improved by removing crystal defects using the low acceleration voltage and low incident angle Argon ion milling finish. Lamella quality of the processing result was almost similar with that of the conventional electrolytic polishing. As a practical application of the process, low damage lamella of stainless cast steel could be prepared. Effectiveness of the FIB system equipped with the low acceleration voltage and low incident angle Argon ion milling function as a tool to make high‐quality metallic material lamellae is illustrated.