Extracting weak magnetic contrast from complex background contrast in plan-view thin films

AbstractReactive multilayer thin films that undergo highly exothermic reactions are attractive choices for applications in ignition, propulsion, and joining systems. Ni/Al reactive multilayer thin films were deposited by dc magnetron sputtering with a period of 14 nm. The microstructure of the as-deposited and heat-treated Ni/Al multilayers was studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) in plan view and in cross section. The cross-section samples for TEM and STEM were prepared by focused ion beam lift-out technique. TEM analysis indicates that the as-deposited samples were composed of Ni and Al. High-resolution TEM images reveal the presence of NiAl in small localized regions. Microstructural characterization shows that heat treating at 450 and 700°C transforms the Ni/Al multilayered structure into equiaxed NiAl fine grains.

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Enhanced Quantitative Characterization Of Textured Al-doped ZnO Thin Films Using Plan-view Electron Diffraction

Microscopy and Microanalysis ◽

10.1017/s1431927612008094 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 18 (S2) ◽

pp. 1248-1249

Author(s):

J. Wang

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Electron Diffraction ◽

Zno Thin Films ◽

Quantitative Characterization ◽

Plan View ◽

Doped Zno

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, July 29 – August 2, 2012.

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Two-Dimensional Modulated Interfacial Structures of Highly Epitaxial Ferromagnetic (La,Ca)MnO3 and Ferroelectric (Pb,Sr)TiO3 Thin Films on (001) MgO

Journal of Nano Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/jnanor.3.59 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

pp. 59-66 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Jiechao Jiang ◽

J. He ◽

Efstathios I. Meletis ◽

Jian Liu ◽

Z. Yuan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Cross Section ◽

Lattice Mismatch ◽

Rock Type ◽

Two Dimensional ◽

Salt Rock ◽

Double Diffraction ◽

Tem Analysis ◽

Plan View ◽

Mgo Substrate

Two-dimensional in-plane interface structures of highly epitaxial perovskite (La,Ca)MnO3 (LCMO) and (Pb,Sr)TiO3 (PSTO) thin films on salt-rock type MgO substrate were studied using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Cross-section TEM studies revealed that both LCMO and PSTO films are good single crystal quality and have atomic sharp interface with respect to the MgO substrate with -6.4% and -6.2% lattice mismatch, respectively. Electron Diffraction Patterns (EDPs) of plan-view LCMO/MgO and PSTO/MgO interfaces exhibit double diffraction spots. An analytical approach was employed using double diffraction to study the two-dimensional in-plane interfaces of perovskite structure films on the salt-rock type substrate. The lattice mismatch near the interface regions was determined using EDPs of the plan-view interfaces and found to be -8.0% for LCMO/MgO and -7.14% for PSTO. Both latter values are larger than those obtained using cross-section TEM. Studies of the sharpness of double diffraction spots and plan-view high resolution (HR) TEM brought a conclusion that the PSTO film is well commensurate with the MgO substrate over large areas, whereas LCMO film is only locally commensurate with the substrate. These studies provide additional evidence to our previous observations that plan-view TEM of the interface is able to provide critical and valuable information that is lacking from the cross-section TEM analysis.

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Defect Generation And Evolution In The Hydrothermal Growth Of Epitaxial BaTiO3 Thin Films

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-474-55 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 474 ◽

Author(s):

L. Zhao ◽

A. T. Chien ◽

F. F. Lange ◽

J. S. Speck

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Cross Section ◽

Interfacial Layer ◽

Dislocation Network ◽

Misfit Dislocations ◽

Plan View ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Defects Analysis ◽

Film Substrate ◽

Growth Evolution

ABSTRACTThe structure of epitaxial BaTiO3 thin films prepared by hydrothermal synthesis on (001) SrTiO3 substrates was studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The growth evolution was followed from initial island formation, through island impingement and fusion. Plan view and cross-section imaging demonstrated that the films grew by an unusual islanding mechanism. Electron diffraction showed the islands and the fully formed film are single crystal with mosaic character and in all cases strain relaxed. Cross-section TEM of the early growth films showed a several monolayer thick interfacial layer and the film/substrate region had no misfit dislocations. In the fully formed films, this interfacial layer was not observed, however a clear misfit dislocation network was observed. Defects analysis shows that the misfit dislocations have pure edge character with <100> Une directions, and <010> Burgers vectors (parallel to the film/substrate interface).

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The Effect of Post-Conventional Thermal Annealing Process on the Photoluminescence Characteristics of Si+-Implanted SiO2 Thin Films

Key Engineering Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.602-603.1013 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 602-603 ◽

pp. 1013-1016

Author(s):

Fann Wei Yang ◽

Chien Min Cheng ◽

Kai Huang Chen

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Annealing Time ◽

High Intensity ◽

Nitrogen Atmosphere ◽

Annealing Process ◽

Hrtem Image ◽

Plan View ◽

Si Nanocrystals ◽

Thermal Annealing Process ◽

Pl Intensity

The shifted band and high intensity of the photoluminescence characteristics for RTA-treated Si+-implanted SiO2thin films for 400-nm-thick thickness using post-CTA processing were discussed and investigated. The samples were treated in the temperature of 1150°C and 20s RTA processing under dry nitrogen atmosphere. The PL band of thin films obtained was 1.7 eV. However, the PL intensity of thin films was continuous decreased for RTA annealing time increased. In this study, the PL band for RTA-treated thin films using 1h post-CTA processing was shifted from 1.5 to 1.67 eV. In addition, the PL intensity of the thin films was increased under the post-CTA annealing time increased to 60s. From the plan-view of the HRTEM image, the Si nanocrystals of the RTA-treated thin films using post-CTA processing were observed. These results were related to the presence and variation of silicon Si nanocrystals embedded in thin films.

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Domain Structure of Epitaxial SrRuO3 Thin Films on (001) LaA1O3

Microscopy and Microanalysis ◽

10.1017/s1431927600023011 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 4 (S2) ◽

pp. 578-579

Author(s):

J. C. Jiang ◽

X.Q. Pan ◽

Q. Gan ◽

C. B. Eom

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Thin Films ◽

Magnetic Properties ◽

Cross Section ◽

Ion Milling ◽

Plan View ◽

Face To Face ◽

Electrical And Magnetic Properties ◽

Device Applications ◽

Ferroelectric Capacitors

Epitaxial thin film of SrRuO3 is very useful in device applications, due to its important electrical and magnetic properties. For example, (Pb,Zr)TiO3 ferroelectric capacitors with SrRuO3 thin film electrodes exhibit superior fatigue and leakage characteristics. Epitaxial SrRuO3 thin films grown on different substrates, such as on (001) SrTiO3 and (001) LaA1O3, have different magnetic properties, owing to the different microstructures in the film. Microstructures in epitaxial SrRuO3 thin films grown on (001) SrTiO3 have been studied in our previously work. In this paper, microstructure of epitaxial SrRu03 thin films grown on (001) LaA103 is reported.SrRuO3 thin films on (001) LaA1O3 were deposited by 90° off-axis sputtering. For cross-section TEM studies the SrRuO3/LaA1O3 heterostructural samples were cut along the [100] direction of LaA103. The cut slides were glued face-to-face by joining the SrRu03 surfaces. Plan-view and cross-section TEM specimens were prepared by mechanical grinding, polishing and dimpling, followed by Ar-ion milling.

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Study of the growth mechanism of highly in-plane aligned α-axis YBa2Cu3O7−x thin films on LaSrGaO4 substrate by high resolution electron microscopy

Journal of Materials Research ◽

10.1557/jmr.1996.0372 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 11 (12) ◽

pp. 2951-2954 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

J. G. Wen ◽

S. Mahajan ◽

H. Ohtsuka ◽

T. Morishita ◽

N. Koshizuka

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Electron Microscopy ◽

Thin Films ◽

High Resolution ◽

High Resolution Electron Microscopy ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Plan View ◽

Oriented Film ◽

Resolution Electron ◽

Average Size

Highly in-plane aligned α-axis YBa2Cu3O7−x thin films deposited on (100) LaSrGaO4 substrates by a self-template method were studied by high-resolution electron microscopy along three orthogonal 〈100〉 axes of the substrate. Plan-view images confirm that the majority of the film preferentially aligns across the entire substrate except for very few misaligned domains with average size 10 nm2. Cross-sectional images along the [100] orientation of YBa2Cu3O7−x reveal that in-plane aligned α-axis YBa2Cu3O7−x is grown on a template layer dominated by c-axis oriented film. This strongly suggests that the in-plane alignment of α-axis YBa2Cu3O7−x thin films on (100) LaSrGaO4 substrates is governed by the different stresses along the b and c axes of the substrate. Cross-sectional images along [001] of the YBa2Cu3O7—x thin film reveal that the 90° domains easily nucleate in the region between α-axis YBa2Cu3O7—x and the YBa4Cu3Ox phase. Cracks along the (001) plane of YBa2Cu3O7−x are found to be due to the large mismatch between the c parameters of the thin film and substrate.

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Plan-View Preparation of TEM Specimens from Thin Films Using Adhesive Tape

Microscopy and Microanalysis ◽

10.1017/s1431927611012086 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 17 (6) ◽

pp. 886-888

Author(s):

Zsolt Czigány

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Thin Films ◽

Grain Size ◽

Nanostructured Materials ◽

Ion Beam ◽

Adhesive Tape ◽

Alloy Thin Film ◽

Preparation Technique ◽

Plan View ◽

High Resolution Tem

AbstractA simple plan-view sample preparation technique for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) specimens is proposed for thin films by tearing-off the film with adhesive tape. The demand for very thin samples is highest for nanostructured materials where the structure of 2–5 nm sized features (grains) needs to be resolved; therefore, overlapping of nanometer-sized features should be avoided. The method provides thin areas at the fracture edges of plan-view specimens with thickness in the range of the grain size in the film allowing for artifact free high-resolution TEM imaging. Nanostructured materials typically fracture between the grains providing areas with the thickness of the grain size. Besides the swiftness of the method, the samples are free of surface amorphization artifacts, which can occur in ion beam milling up to 1 nm depth even at low energy ion bombardment. The thin film tear-off technique is demonstrated on a CuMn alloy thin film with grain size of 2 nm.

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The effect of target crystallography on the growth of Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 thin films using pulsed laser deposition

Journal of Materials Research ◽

10.1557/jmr.1999.0313 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 14 (6) ◽

pp. 2355-2358 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

M. H. Corbett ◽

G. Catalan ◽

R. M. Bowman ◽

J. M. Gregg

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Pulsed Laser Deposition ◽

Pulsed Laser ◽

Growth Conditions ◽

Laser Deposition ◽

X Ray Diffraction ◽

Plan View ◽

X Ray ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Lead Magnesium

Pulsed laser deposition has been used to make two sets of lead magnesium niobate thin films grown on single-crystal h100j MgO substrates. One set was fabricated using a perovskite-rich target while the other used a pyrochlore-rich target. It was found that the growth conditions required to produce almost 100% perovskite Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 (PMN) films were largely independent of target crystallography. Films were characterized crystallographically using x-ray diffraction and plan view transmission electron microscopy, chemically using energy dispersive x-ray analysis, and electrically by fabricating a planar thin film capacitor structure and monitoring capacitance as a function of temperature. All characterization techniques indicated that perovskite PMN thin films had been successfully fabricated.

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Ion-Beam-Assisted Deposition of Metal Nanocluster thin Films with Nonlinear Optical Properties

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-396-435 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 396 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

C. M. Cotell ◽

C.A. Carosella ◽

S.R. Flom ◽

S. Schiestel ◽

N. Haralampus ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Optical Properties ◽

Nonlinear Optical ◽

Uv Spectroscopy ◽

Ion Beam ◽

Ion Bombardment ◽

Plan View ◽

Ion Beam Assisted Deposition ◽

Metal Nanocluster ◽

Post Deposition

AbstractMetal nanocluster thin films (∼200 nm thickness) consisting of noble metal (Au) clusters (5-30 nm) in an active metal oxide (Nb2O5) matrix were deposited by evaporation or ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD). In some cases the films were given a post-deposition anneal. The microstructure of the films was examined by plan view and cross sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The size of the metal nanoclusters was found to depend upon the temperature of the post-deposition anneal as well as the conditions of ion bombardment. Ion bombardment was found to stabilize smaller size particles. The linear optical properties of the films, as measured by VIS/UV spectroscopy, show particle size-dependent surface plasmon resonance effects. The nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of the nanoclusters in oxidized niobium were probed experimentally using degenerate four wave mixing (DFWM) and nonlinear transmission (NLT). The DFWM measurements yielded signals that showed strong evidence of saturation and give large values of χ(3)xxxxl. NLT measurements demonstrated that the nonlinear absorption coefficient and, hence, Imχ(3)xxxx was negative. Time resolved DFWM measurements exhibited dynamics that decayed on a several picosecond time scale. The magnitude and the picosecond dynamics of the NLO response were compared to those observed in gold nanoclusters formed by ion implantation in other media. The advantages of the IBAD method for fabricating third order NLO films include the ability to deposit films of arbitrary active region thicknesses and, more importantly, high cluster densities.

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