In situ lift-out dedicated techniques using FIB-SEM system for TEM specimen preparation.
The recent emergence of the focused ion-beam (FIB) microscope as a dedicated specimen preparation tool for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has extended the reach of TEM to a wider variety of problems in materials science. This paper highlights three examples of using FIB-SEM lift-out techniques for preparing site-specific and crystallographic orientation-specific thin-foil specimens. An in situ lift-out technique used to extract thin foils from across a local grain boundary in bulk Al alloy and from individual fine Al atomised powder particles (down to 20μm in diameter) was performed with real-time secondary electron imaging within the chamber of a FIB-SEM system. In conjunction with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), the FIB is used for extracting TEM foil with a specific crystallographic orientation aligned normal to the broad plane of the foil. The above technique has been demonstrated using a dual-phase Ti-Si alloy for the exploration of orientation relationship between constituent phases. Furthermore, it is suggested that FIB is more applicable for preparing thin foils from hydrogen-sensitive metals (such as titanium alloys) than conventional thinning techniques, which tend to induce ambiguous artifacts in these foils.
ARC Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals, Department of Materials Engineering, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia. dacian.tomus@monash.edu
Dacian
D
Tomus
Hoi Pang
HP
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