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

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Title: Anisotropic wet-chemical etching for preparation of freestanding films on Si substrates for atom probe tomography: A simple yet effective approach.
Authors: Tkadletz, Michael1 (AUTHOR) michael.tkadletz@unileoben.ac.at, Lechner, Alexandra2 (AUTHOR), Pölzl, Silvia1 (AUTHOR), Schalk, Nina1 (AUTHOR)
Source: Ultramicroscopy. Nov2021, Vol. 230, pN.PAG-N.PAG. 1p.
Subjects: Atom-probe tomography, Focused ion beams, Etching, Surface coatings
Abstract: • Anisotropic wet-chemical etching yields coatings protruding their Si substrate. • APT specimen can be easily prepared from the protruding coating. • FIB utilization and processing time are reduced. • Level of FIB complexity is reduced to standard operations. • The proposed approach simplifies APT specimen preparation of coatings on Si. 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Database: Engineering Source
Description
Abstract:• Anisotropic wet-chemical etching yields coatings protruding their Si substrate. • APT specimen can be easily prepared from the protruding coating. • FIB utilization and processing time are reduced. • Level of FIB complexity is reduced to standard operations. • The proposed approach simplifies APT specimen preparation of coatings on Si. 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:03043991
DOI:10.1016/j.ultramic.2021.113402