a b s t r a c tThe application of scanning transmission electron microscopy for morphological observation of anodic oxide films formed on titanium has been successfully explored. Important details of anodic films are readily recorded from high quality images by scanning transmission electron microscopy, which enabled the study of the film morphology, identification of film thickness and the presence of oxygen bubble features. By combining the large field of view with flexible magnification ranges in the scanning transmission electron microscopy, it was possible to study the morphology of the oxide film. A 6-specimen carousel holder would provide an increase in productivity by~20% compared with a conventional, single-specimen scanning transmission electron microscopy or transmission electron microscopy.The use of anodized titanium in an increasing range of applications has resulted in a growing demand for detailed information on the morphology of the anodic films in order to derive crystalline structure e property correlations. In the microstructure analysis of anodic oxide films, the structure and occurrence of oxygen evolution are examined to precise a deep understanding of the coating performance. This is also critical for optimization of the titanium surface and processing conditions for specific requirements in the aerospace industries [1e3].Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is the most frequently used technique for the study of the morphology of thin film coatings. The TEM technique, however, presents some limitations: the equipment is expensive; the analysis is time-consuming and is somewhat skill-intensive. Recently, some publications have reported the value of the scanning transmission electron microscopy in scanning electron microscopy (STEM-in-SEM) technique in the areas of mineralogy and petrology [4], semiconductors [5], nanomaterials [6,7], polymers and catalysts [8]. The STEM-in-SEM has been shown to be a rapid and easy method for characterization of the morphology and the internal structure of mineral and rock specimens, and it was shown to be particularly useful in microbiology research [9]. In addition, an exhaustive high-resolution STEM-in-SEM study of laser-machined silicon structures was carried out to characterize defects in the crystal lattice, thermalmechanical damage, internal structure, compositions, and dimensions of the laser-machined structures [10].However, according to the authors' knowledge, studies of anodic oxide film growth on titanium using an STEM-in-SEM technique have not been reported in any previous research. Thus, in the present work, the application of STEM-in-SEM to anodic oxide films formed on titanium is demonstrated. Some examples of anodic films formed on titanium are presented, with emphasis on the film morphology and oxygen bubble features etc., which are routinely probed by TEM.A Zeiss Ultra 55 scanning electron microscopy, equipped with a scanning transmission electron microscopy detector was used in the present study. The schematic diagrams of Fig. 1 show a ...
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