Advanced specimen preparation

Abstract

Specimen preparation cannot be circumvented if one wants to obtain high quality results. However, due to the intrinsic natures of the incident particles and materials, the interaction of an electron beam with the matter generates unwanted problems when analyzing a specimen in a SEM. In this chapter, we concentrate on three of the main issues encountered daily by the electron microscopist: specimen charging, carbon contamination, and surface damage resulting from mechanical polishing.