Ultrafast spatiotemporal processing with thin-film micro-optics

All serious electron microscopists at one time or another have been concerned with the cleanliness and freedom from artifacts of thin film specimen support substrates. This is particularly important where there are relatively few particles of a sample to be found for study, as in the case of micrometeorite collections. For the deposition of such celestial garbage through the use of balloons, rockets, and aircraft, the thin film substrates must have not only all the attributes necessary for use in the electron microscope, but also be able to withstand rather wide temperature variations at high altitude, vibration and shock inherent in the collection vehicle's operation and occasionally an unscheduled violent landing.Nitrocellulose has been selected as a film forming material that meets these requirements yet lends itself to a relatively simple clean-up procedure to remove particulate contaminants. A 1% nitrocellulose solution is prepared by dissolving “Parlodion” in redistilled amyl acetate from which all moisture has been removed.

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Microtomy of spherical Al2O3 powders

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s042482010007429x ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 41 ◽

pp. 74-75

Author(s):

E.J. Jenkins ◽

D.S. Tucker ◽

J.J. Hren

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Size Range ◽

Particle Aggregation ◽

Ion Milling ◽

Thin Sections ◽

Α Phase ◽

Convenient Means ◽

Van Der Waals Attraction ◽

Negative Feature ◽

Film Substrate

The size range of mineral and ceramic particles of one to a few microns is awkward to prepare for examination by TEM. Electrons can be transmitted through smaller particles directly and larger particles can be thinned by crushing and dispersion onto a substrate or by embedding in a film followed by ion milling. Attempts at dispersion onto a thin film substrate often result in particle aggregation by van der Waals attraction. In the present work we studied 1-10 μm diameter Al2O3 spheres which were transformed from the amprphous state to the stable α phase.After the appropriate heat treatment, the spherical powders were embedded in as high a density as practicable in a hard EPON, and then microtomed into thin sections. There are several advantages to this method. Obviously, this is a rapid and convenient means to study the microstructure of serial slices. EDS, ELS, and diffraction studies are also considerably more informative. Furthermore, confidence in sampling reliability is considerably enhanced. The major negative feature is some distortion of the microstructure inherent to the microtoming operation; however, this appears to have been surprisingly small. The details of the method and some typical results follow.

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Studies on Water in the Hydration Chamber of a Modified Electron Microscope

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100069715 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 28 ◽

pp. 544-545

Author(s):

R. C. Moretz ◽

G. G. Hausner ◽

D. F. Parsons

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Thin Films ◽

Electron Microscope ◽

Steady State ◽

Room Temperature ◽

Small Mass ◽

Equilibrium Pressure ◽

Biological Objects ◽

Mechanical Pump ◽

Differential Pumping

Use of the electron microscope to examine wet objects is possible due to the small mass thickness of the equilibrium pressure of water vapor at room temperature. Previous attempts to examine hydrated biological objects and water itself used a chamber consisting of two small apertures sealed by two thin films. Extensive work in our laboratory showed that such films have an 80% failure rate when wet. Using the principle of differential pumping of the microscope column, we can use open apertures in place of thin film windows.Fig. 1 shows the modified Siemens la specimen chamber with the connections to the water supply and the auxiliary pumping station. A mechanical pump is connected to the vapor supply via a 100μ aperture to maintain steady-state conditions.

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