Journal
MICROSCOPY AND MICROANALYSIS
Volume 23, Issue 4, Pages 872-877Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/S143192761700054X
Keywords
focused ion beam; TEM lamella preparation; scanning electron microscopy; conductive polymers; sample preparation
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Funding
- University of Maryland NanoCenter
- U.S. Army Research Laboratory [W911NF1420110]
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program [DGE1322106]
- AIMLab
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This letter describes an innovative spin-coating system, built from off-the-shelf components, that can easily and inexpensively be integrated into any laboratory environment. Combined with a liquid suspension of conductive polymer, such a rotary coater enables simple coating of planar samples to create a physical protective barrier on the sample surface. This barrier aids in charge dissipation during scanning electron microscope and focused ion beam (FIB) imaging and provides wide-scale protection of the sample surface from ion bombardment during FIB imaging and gas-assisted deposition. This polymer layer replaces the localized and time-consuming electron beam deposition step typically performed during transmission electron microscopy lamella preparation. After observation, the coating can be easily removed, if desired. The described spin-coating procedure has minimal cost while providing repeatable positive results, without the need for expensive commercial coating instrumentation.
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