ABSTRACT
Electron backscattering diffraction (EBSD) is commonly used on bulk samples for crystallographic material characterization. In this work, the technique was applied on transmission electron microscopy (TEM)-type thin specimens, prepared with a focused ion beam. Orientation maps were successfully collected on specimens made of a Cu3Au copper-gold alloy. As compared to EBSD analysis on a bulk specimen, an improved pattern quality and a high spatial resolution (well below 10 nm) were obtained. Furthermore, a clear improvement of the signal-to-noise ratio with decreasing sample thickness was observed.
ABSTRACT
The dual-beam microscope is a combination of a focused ion beam with an electron beam. The instrument used in this work is also equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray system for local elemental analysis. This powerful tool gives access to specific features inside a material. Two different applications are presented in this paper: (1) cross-sections and transmission electron microscope specimens cut in order to investigate the interface between an aluminium substrate and its epoxy coating; and (2) a grain boundary in a Cu(3)Au alloy. In both cases, the dual beam succeeded where other methods failed.
