Ion beam slope cutting in dentistry: a catalog of applications

It is very difficult to prepare structures of heterogeneous materials, material interfaces, or sensitive biologic samples. The usual grinding, cutting, or fracturing methods are mostly material destructive because of resulting shear strengths. Ion beam slope cutting allows microcuts to be accurately placed into subsurface areas. The material reduction is based on the principles of ion sputtering, whereby atoms are removed in the area of ion incidence. The speed of removal depends on the sputtered material, amounting to several micrometers per hour. Approximately 40 biologic dental specimens of various origin were examined. Depending on the incidence angle of the ion beam, the typical structures of ion etching can be reduced or intensified. Both variants are used to obtain a precise judgment of morphologic details or an exact topography of failures.