


In situ transmission electron microscopy of resistive switching in thin silicon oxide layers

Convenient Preparation of High-Quality Specimens for Annealing Experiments in the Transmission Electron Microscope

Dr. Martial Duchamp
Ernst Ruska-Center for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons (ER-C) and Peter Grünberg Institute, Forschungszentrum, Jülich, Germany
Application | Convenient Preparation of High-Quality Specimens for Annealing Experiments in the Transmission Electron Microscope |
Authors | Martial Duchamp, Qiang Xu and Rafal E Dunin-Borkowski. |
Journal | Microsc. Microanal. 2014, page 1 of 8 |
Publication | Full Publication Here – DOI:10.1017/S1431927614013476 |
Convenient Preparation of High-Quality Specimens for Annealing Experiments in the Transmission Electron Microscope
ABSTRACT: A procedure based on focused ion beam milling and in situ lift-out is introduced for the preparation of high-quality specimens for in situ annealing experiments in the transmission electron microscope. The procedure allows an electron-transparent lamella to be cleaned directly on a heating chip using a low ion energy and back-side milling in order to minimize redeposition and damage. The approach is illustrated through the preparation of an Al–Mn–Fe complex metallic alloy specimen.
Download the full publication here at the Microanal Journal
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Real-Time Atomic Scale Imaging of Nanostructural Evolution in Aluminum Alloys

Dr. Sairam K. Malladi
Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. Authors | Sairam K. Malladi, Qiang Xu, Marijn A. van Huis, Frans D. Tichelaar, K. Joost Batenburg, Emrah Yücelen, Beata Dubiel, Aleksandra Czyrska-Filemonowicz, and Henny W. Zandbergen. Email | H.W.Zandbergen@tudelft.nl.
Application | Real-Time Atomic Scale Imaging of Nanostructural Evolution in Aluminum Alloys |
Authors | Sairam K. Malladi, Qiang Xu, Marijn A. van Huis, Frans D. Tichelaar, K. Joost Batenburg, Emrah Yücelen, Beata Dubiel, Aleksandra Czyrska-Filemonowicz, and Henny W. Zandbergen. |
Journal | Nano Lett., 2014, 14 (1), pp 384–389 |
Sample | FIB lamella, Metal |
Topic | Heat Treatment, Aging, Precipitation |
Field | Materials Science, Micro Electronics |
Techniques | HRTEM, EDX mapping |
Keywords | In situ (S)TEM; precipitation; aluminum alloys |
Publication | Full Publication Here – DOI 10.1021/nl404565j |
Real-Time Atomic Scale Imaging of Nanostructural Evolution in Aluminum Alloys
DENSsolutions Comments:
Most commercial engineering alloys undergo heat treatments to change their intrinsic microstructural properties, such as elemental distribution and precipitate density, to enhance their extrinsic physical properties such as mechanical strength. Despite the key importance of these treatments, studies of the compositional and structural evolution of alloys undergoing heat treatments are fragmented and time consuming as they have been carried out on a set of different samples taken at intermediate stages, which are postmortem data that do not show the evolution of the same area. Achieving in situ TEM observation of heat treatment process at atomic scale enable a full understanding of the relation among process, structure and properties.
The DENSsolutions heating system provides the minimal specimen drift at elevated temperature, allowing a novel in situ method to investigate the aging hardening process that the structural and compositional evolution of alloys can be directly analyzed with time and temperature down to atomic scale.