Novel Focused Ion Beam Techniques for Enhanced Sample Preparation for In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy Heating and Irradiation Experiments.

Focused ion beam (FIB) systems have revolutionized sample preparation for transmission electron microscopy (TEM), enabling precise and site-specific material analysis. However, the conventional ion beam-induced deposition (IBID) approach to preparing FIB samples can lead to contamination effects that can compromise the quality of TEM data acquisition. This study introduces an innovative FIB method for connecting TEM lamellae to support grids via redeposition, avoiding the contamination issue. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique through observations of a SiC phase within tristructural-isotropic particles during in situ high-temperature and irradiation TEM experiments, establishing an improved process for characterizing material behaviors during exposure to their industrially relevant environmental conditions.