A high-resolution serial sectioning specimen preparation technique for application to electron backscatter diffraction

A high-resolution serial sectioning specimen preparation technique is described for acquisition of electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) data. The primary objective is to develop a method to reproducibly remove a controlled thickness of material from a polycrystalline Ta sample while producing quality surfaces for EBSD orientation imaging. This is integrated with the ability to accurately measure the amount of material removed with each iteration and experimentally register the ensuing EBSD scans. To facilitate enhanced accuracy of this method, a metrology device containing high-precision etching patterns is fabricated using standard lithographic techniques. This metrology device allows for the sub-micron measurement of the serial section slice thickness and approximately 1 microm registration accuracy of each EBSD scan.