Preparation of thin ceramic monofilaments for characterization by TEM

A method for preparing transmission electron microscopy specimens from ceramic fibers has been developed that is particularly useful when only a small amount of the material is available for characterization. Fiber segments are lined up and sandwiched between two glass slides using high-temperature epoxy. The resulting specimen is then polished flat from both sides using tripod polisher to remove the glass and produce thin (< 2 microm) longitudinal section of the fibers. The specimen is then ion-milled for a short time to produce electron-transparent areas. The method is also suitable for preparing very flat specimens for site-specific optical and SEM analysis.