Preparation and detection of reconstructed plan-view surfaces

Electron crystallography in surface structure analysis

“…Profile imaging (Ikarashi et al, 1988;Marks, 1983Marks, , 1984Marks and Smith, 1983), in which the incident beam is parallel to the surface of interest, produces images that show atomic positions on the surface, but it is difficult to obtain reproducible results, due to the thermodynamic instability of a thin edge. Plan view imaging, in which the incident beam is perpendicular to the surface, can be used either on or off a zone axis, and can provide images that give important phase information, as well as atomic-scale structural information (Dunn et al, 1991;Marks, 1992b;Marks et al, 1992Marks et al, , 1993Nihoul et al, 1984).…”

“…Once this is achieved, the sample is placed in a UHV system, where it undergoes further cleaning, usually by a combination of ion beam bombardment and annealing, until a reproducible clean surface is obtained. This method of preparation generally works well, although in some cases the ions induce specimen damage, which is difficult to overcome (Dunn et al, 1991;Marks et al, 1991). It is important to monitor the sample surface during the experimental procedure, since even at low pressures residual gases are present that may react with the surface.…”

Atomic Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy of Surfaces

“…In these cases, there is a trade-off between annealing out defects and coarsening of the sample, which has been seen on noble metal surfaces cleaned using Xe ions. 39,40…”