Novel Method for the Preparation of Lamellas From Porous and Brittle Materials for In Situ TEM Heating/Biasing

Fátima Zorro; Enrique Carbo-Argibay; Paulo J Ferreira

doi:10.1093/micmic/ozad141

Novel Method for the Preparation of Lamellas From Porous and Brittle Materials for In Situ TEM Heating/Biasing

Microsc Microanal. 2024 Mar 7;30(1):41-48. doi: 10.1093/micmic/ozad141.

Authors

Fátima Zorro^{1

2}, Enrique Carbo-Argibay², Paulo J Ferreira^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Mechanical Engineering Department and IDMEC, Instituto Superior Técnico, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal.
² INL-International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, Av. Mestre José Veiga, 4715-330 Braga, Portugal.
³ Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of Texas at Austin, 204 E. Dean Keeton Street, Austin, TX 78712, USA.

PMID: 38321710
DOI: 10.1093/micmic/ozad141

Abstract

A novel method for the preparation of lamellas made from porous and brittle compressed green powder using a focused ion beam (FIB) is described. One of the main purposes for the development of this methodology is to use this type of samples in micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) chips for in situ transmission electron microscopy heating/biasing experiments, concomitant with maintaining the mechanical integrity and the absence of contamination of samples. This is accomplished through a modification of the standard FIB procedure for the preparation of lamellas, the adaptation of conventional chips, as well as the specific transfer of the lamella onto the chips. This method is versatile enough to be implemented in most commercially available FIB systems and MEMS chips.

Keywords: in situ TEM; FIB/SEM; MEMS chip; lamella transfer; porous material.