Pérez-Huerta Alberto, Cusack Maggie
Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ Glasgow, UK.
Microsc Microanal. 2009 Jun;15(3):197-203. doi: 10.1017/S1431927609090370.
Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) is becoming a widely used technique to determine crystallographic orientation in biogenic carbonates. Despite this use, there is little information available on preparation for the analysis of biogenic carbonates. EBSD data are compared for biogenic aragonite and calcite in the common blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, using different types of resin and thicknesses of carbon coating. Results indicate that carbonate biomineral samples provide better EBSD results if they are embedded in resin, particularly epoxy resin. A uniform layer of carbon of 2.5 nm thickness provides sufficient conductivity for EBSD analyses of such insulators to avoid charging without masking the diffracted signal. Diffraction intensity decreases with carbon coating thickness of 5 nm or more. This study demonstrates the importance of optimizing sample preparation for EBSD analyses of insulators such as carbonate biominerals.
电子背散射衍射（EBSD）正成为一种广泛用于确定生物源碳酸盐晶体取向的技术。尽管有此应用，但关于生物源碳酸盐分析的样品制备方面的信息却很少。本文使用不同类型的树脂和碳涂层厚度，对常见蓝贻贝（Mytilus edulis）中的生物源文石和方解石的EBSD数据进行了比较。结果表明，如果将碳酸盐生物矿物样品嵌入树脂中，特别是环氧树脂中，能获得更好的EBSD结果。2.5纳米厚度的均匀碳层可为这类绝缘体的EBSD分析提供足够的导电性，以避免充电现象，同时又不会掩盖衍射信号。当碳涂层厚度达到5纳米或更厚时，衍射强度会降低。本研究证明了优化样品制备对于碳酸盐生物矿物等绝缘体的EBSD分析的重要性。
