TY - JOUR

T1 - Anisotropic wet-chemical etching for preparation of freestanding films on Si substrates for atom probe tomography: A simple yet effective approach

AU - Tkadletz, Michael

AU - Lechner, Alexandra

AU - Pölzl, Silvia

AU - Schalk, Nina

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s)

PY - 2021/11

Y1 - 2021/11

N2 - A major drawback of atom probe tomography (APT) experiments of complex samples is the demanding and rather time consuming specimen preparation via the lift-out process. It usually requires a skilled operator for focused ion beam (FIB) preparation, and frequently overbooked FIB workstations represent a major bottleneck in sample throughput. Within this work, the authors present an alternative approach for APT specimen preparation of functional films and coatings on Si substrates via anisotropic wet-chemical etching. Utilizing this simple, yet effective approach, a freestanding section of the film to be investigated can be fabricated in a few steps. After the etching procedure, freestanding film posts and subsequently APT specimen can be easily prepared by basic FIB milling operations without the need for a lift-out process. Hence, this approach reduces FIB efforts to a minimum in terms of complexity and required machine utilization.

AB - A major drawback of atom probe tomography (APT) experiments of complex samples is the demanding and rather time consuming specimen preparation via the lift-out process. It usually requires a skilled operator for focused ion beam (FIB) preparation, and frequently overbooked FIB workstations represent a major bottleneck in sample throughput. Within this work, the authors present an alternative approach for APT specimen preparation of functional films and coatings on Si substrates via anisotropic wet-chemical etching. Utilizing this simple, yet effective approach, a freestanding section of the film to be investigated can be fabricated in a few steps. After the etching procedure, freestanding film posts and subsequently APT specimen can be easily prepared by basic FIB milling operations without the need for a lift-out process. Hence, this approach reduces FIB efforts to a minimum in terms of complexity and required machine utilization.

KW - APT preparation

KW - Anisotropic wet-chemical echting

KW - Atom probe tomography (APT)

KW - Coatings

KW - Lift-out process

KW - Thin films

KW - Wedge method

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85116203455&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.ultramic.2021.113402

DO - 10.1016/j.ultramic.2021.113402

M3 - Article

VL - 230

SP - 1

EP - 4

JO - Ultramicroscopy

JF - Ultramicroscopy

SN - 0304-3991

IS - 113402

M1 - 113402

ER -