Eberg Espen, Monsen Asmund F, Tybell Thomas, van Helvoort Antonius T J, Holmestad Randi
Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway.
J Electron Microsc (Tokyo). 2008 Dec;57(6):175-9. doi: 10.1093/jmicro/dfn018. Epub 2008 Sep 24.
In this article, the effects of the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) specimen preparation techniques, such as ion milling and tripod polishing on perovskite oxides for high-resolution TEM investigation, are compared. Conventional and liquid nitrogen cooled ion milling induce a new domain orientation in thin films of SrRuO(3) and LaFeO(3) grown on (001)-oriented SrTiO(3) substrates. This is not observed in tripod-polished specimens. Different ion milling rates for thin films and substrates in cross-section specimens lead to artefacts in the interface region, degrading the specimen quality. This is illustrated by SrRuO(3) and PbTiO(3) thin films grown on (001)-oriented SrTiO(3). By applying tripod polishing and gentle low-angle, low-energy ion milling while cooling the sample, the effects from specimen preparation are reduced resulting in higher quality of the TEM study. In the process of making face-to-face cross-section specimens by tripod polishing, it is crucial that the glue layer attaching the slabs of material is very thin (<50 nm).
本文比较了诸如离子研磨和三角架抛光等透射电子显微镜（TEM）样品制备技术对用于高分辨率TEM研究的钙钛矿氧化物的影响。常规的和液氮冷却的离子研磨会在生长于（001）取向的SrTiO₃衬底上的SrRuO₃和LaFeO₃薄膜中诱导出新的畴取向。在三角架抛光的样品中未观察到这种情况。横截面样品中薄膜和衬底的不同离子研磨速率会在界面区域产生伪像，降低样品质量。这通过生长于（001）取向的SrTiO₃上的SrRuO₃和PbTiO₃薄膜得到了说明。通过采用三角架抛光以及在冷却样品的同时进行温和的低角度、低能量离子研磨，样品制备的影响得以降低，从而使TEM研究的质量更高。在通过三角架抛光制作面对面横截面样品的过程中，附着材料片的胶层非常薄（<50 nm）至关重要。
