Preparation of Titanium Microgrids for Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy

The ideal supporting microgrid for high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy should be: 1) made of material of low atomic number, 2) uniformly flat for ease in focusing, 3) resistant to any treatments necessary for cleaning and specimen preparation, and 4) a good electrical and thermal conductor. In the past, microgrid supports have been made of fenestrated plastic films strengthened by carbon or metal coatings. While adequate for most work, they cannot be baked at temperatures greater than 50°C. which may be necessary in some cases to completely eliminate contamination for single atom imaging using the STEM. To provide a reliably non-contaminating substrate support for high resolution scanning transmission microscopy, we have developed a simple technique for the preparation of microgrids of titanium metal. As can be seen in table 1, titanium posesses many attractive features.