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Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Preparation and Observation of Thick Biological Samples by Scanning Transmission Electron Tomography
Published on: March 12, 2017
Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy of X-ray multilayer thin film structures
T D Nguyen1, R Gronsky, J B Kortright
1Center for X-Ray Optics, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley 94720.
Abstract:
A simple method for preparing cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy specimens and discussions of possible artifacts from specimen preparation and observation of x-ray multilayer thin film structures are presented. The specimen preparation method employs mechanical grinding and polishing to approximately 20 microns, followed by ion milling, without dimpling. Artifacts such as preferential ion milling and crystallization under the electron beam, as well as effects of Fresnel fringes at interfaces, are important factors in interpretation of the images. Care in identifying them is required to avoid erroneous results in studies of morphology and microstructures within the layers and at their interfaces. Example high-resolution TEM results of cross-sectional W/C, Ru/C, and Mo/Si multilayers are presented.
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