Hashimoto Teruo, Thompson George E, Zhou Xiaorong, Withers Philip J
School of Materials, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, England, UK.
School of Materials, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, England, UK.
Ultramicroscopy. 2016 Apr;163:6-18. doi: 10.1016/j.ultramic.2016.01.005. Epub 2016 Jan 29.
Mechanical serial block face scanning electron microscopy (SBFSEM) has emerged as a means of obtaining three dimensional (3D) electron images over volumes much larger than possible by focused ion beam (FIB) serial sectioning and at higher spatial resolution than achievable with conventional X-ray computed tomography (CT). Such high resolution 3D electron images can be employed for precisely determining the shape, volume fraction, distribution and connectivity of important microstructural features. While soft (fixed or frozen) biological samples are particularly well suited for nanoscale sectioning using an ultramicrotome, the technique can also produce excellent 3D images at electron microscope resolution in a time and resource-efficient manner for engineering materials. Currently, a lack of appreciation of the capabilities of ultramicrotomy and the operational challenges associated with minimising artefacts for different materials is limiting its wider application to engineering materials. Consequently, this paper outlines the current state of the art for SBFSEM examining in detail how damage is introduced during slicing and highlighting strategies for minimising such damage. A particular focus of the study is the acquisition of 3D images for a variety of metallic and coated systems.
机械连续块面扫描电子显微镜（SBFSEM）已成为一种获取三维（3D）电子图像的手段，其成像的体积比聚焦离子束（FIB）连续切片法所能达到的体积大得多，且空间分辨率高于传统X射线计算机断层扫描（CT）。这种高分辨率的3D电子图像可用于精确确定重要微观结构特征的形状、体积分数、分布和连通性。虽然软质（固定或冷冻）生物样品特别适合使用超薄切片机进行纳米级切片，但该技术也能以高效省时且节省资源的方式，在电子显微镜分辨率下为工程材料生成出色的3D图像。目前，人们对超薄切片技术的能力缺乏认识，以及在针对不同材料最小化伪像方面存在操作挑战，这限制了它在工程材料领域的更广泛应用。因此，本文概述了SBFSEM的当前技术水平，详细研究了切片过程中如何引入损伤，并强调了将此类损伤降至最低的策略。该研究的一个特别重点是获取各种金属和涂层系统的3D图像。
