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The Small Angle Cleavage Technique: An Update

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

Scott D. Walck  and
John P. McCaffrey
Scott D. Walck
Affiliation:
Wright Laboratory, Materials Directorate, WL/MLBT BLDG. 654, 2941 P St. Ste. 1 Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7750
John P. McCaffrey
Affiliation:
Institute for Microstructural Sciences, National Research Council of Canada, M-50, Montreal Rd. Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0R6 Canada
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Abstract

The Small Angle Cleavage Technique is a relatively simple and inexpensive method of producing superior cross sectional TEM specimens. For speed of preparation, it is unsurpassed. One limitation is that the technique does require the substrate material to cleave or fracture. For this reason, it has been applied almost exclusively to semiconductor materials. Recently, the technique has been extended to other substrates such as glass, silicon carbide, quartz, sapphire, and other hard materials. It is particularly well suited for rapidly examining coatings and thin films very soon after they are deposited. Several procedures have been added or modified to the original technique developed by McCaffrey to simplify the technique. The steps are presented in a detailed pictorial outline form. A method for mounting the cleaved samples utilizing a commercially available grid is presented. In addition, the advantages that the special geometry of the prepared samples have when mounted properly in a double-tilt holder are discussed with respect to the angular range of tilting experiments that are now possible in the TEM.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 480: Symposium Z – Specimen Preparation for Transmission Electron Microscopy…IV , 1997 , 149
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1997

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References

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