A new specimen preparation method for cross-section TEM using diamond powders

A new ion-milling specimen preparation method for the cross-sectional transmission electron microscope (TEM) observation has been developed, which enables fast preparation with thinning quality comparable to a conventional ion-milling method. This method eliminates a mechanical pre-thinning process which may influence deeply to the final quality of the prepared specimen. The mechanical pre-thinning process is the most time-consuming in the whole process of the specimen preparation with ion milling and may introduce a specimen damage. The new developed preparation method named the ion-digging method uses diamond powder which has a slower ion-milling rate. Powders are dispersed on a surface of the sliced material. The surface with diamond powders is exposed under perpendicular Ar+ ion bombardment. Due to the nature of different etching rates between diamond and the elements inside the material, the area without diamond powder is etched faster than that with diamond powder by irradiating ion beam perpendicular to the diamond-dispersed surface of the specimen. Consequently a number of pillars are formed by the ion digging within a few minutes. Those pillars are to be examined by cross-section TEM. This method promises cross-section specimen preparation to be completed in a shorter time, which may be appreciated in the fields where a number of specimen are to be examined through cross-sectional view, such as semiconductors and elecro-magnetic materials research.