Enamel Crystal Shape: History of an Idea

1987 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Warshawsky

The purpose of this paper is to review evidence which casts doubt on the interpretation universally applied to hexagonal images seen in sectioned enamel. The evidence is based on two possible models to explain the hexagonal profiles seen in mammalian enamel with transmission electron microscopy. The "hexagonal ribbon" model proposes that hexagonal profiles are true cross-sections of elongated hexagonal ribbons. The "rectangular ribbon" model proposes that hexagonal profiles are caused by three-dimensional segments that are parallelepipeds contained in the Epon section. Since shadow projections of such rectangular segments give angles that are inconsistent with the hexagonal unit cell, a model based on ribbons with rhomboidal cut ends and angles of 60 and 120° is proposed. The "rhomboidal ribbon" model projects shadows with angles that are predicted by the unit cell. It is suggested that segments of such crystallites in section project as opaque hexagons on the imaging plane in routine transmission electron microscopy. Morphological observations on crystallites in sections - together with predictions from the hexagonal, rectangular, and rhomboidal ribbon models - indicate that crystallites in rat incisor enamel are flat ribbons with rhomboidal cross-sectional shape. Hexagonal images in electron micrographs of thin-sectioned enamel can result from rhomboidal-ended, parallelepiped-shaped segments of these crystallites projected and viewed as two-dimensional shadows.

2000 ◽  
Vol 648 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Sutter ◽  
E. Sutter ◽  
L. Vescan

AbstractThe organization of Ge ‘dome’ islands in Ge/Si multilayers has been investigated by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. Ge ‘domes’ are found to spontaneously arrange in oblique stacks, replicating at a well-defined angle from one bilayer to the next. The formation of oblique island stacks is governed by a complex interplay of surface strain - generated by the already buried islands - and surface curvature - caused by the inherent tendency of large ‘domes’ to carve out material from the surrounding planar substrate.


1989 ◽  
Vol 148 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Ueda ◽  
T. Soga ◽  
T. Jimbo ◽  
M. Umeno

ABSTRACTThe nature and behavior of anti-phase-boundaries in GaAs/Si heterostructures using GaP, GaP/GaAsP and GaAsP/GaAs strained layer superlattices as intermediate buffer layers, have been investigated by transmission electron microscopy. It has been found that anti-phasedomains are very complicated three dimensional polygons consisting of several sub-boundaries in different orientations. Self-annihilation of anti-phase-domains during crystal growth of GaAs on (001)just or (001)2°off Si substrates is directly observed for the first time through planview and cross-sectional observations. Based on these findings, a mechanism of annihilation of these domains is proposed.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roman Leonidovich Volkov ◽  
Nikolay I. Borgardt ◽  
Oleg Konovalov ◽  
Sergio Fernández-Garrido ◽  
O. Brandt ◽  
...  

We study the cross-sectional shapes of GaN nanowires (NWs) by transmission electron microscopy. The shape is examined at different heights of long NWs, as well as at the same height...


Author(s):  
R. W. Anderson ◽  
D. L. Senecal

A problem was presented to observe the packing densities of deposits of sub-micron corrosion product particles. The deposits were 5-100 mils thick and had formed on the inside surfaces of 3/8 inch diameter Zircaloy-2 heat exchanger tubes. The particles were iron oxides deposited from flowing water and consequently were only weakly bonded. Particular care was required during handling to preserve the original formations of the deposits. The specimen preparation method described below allowed direct observation of cross sections of the deposit layers by transmission electron microscopy.The specimens were short sections of the tubes (about 3 inches long) that were carefully cut from the systems. The insides of the tube sections were first coated with a thin layer of a fluid epoxy resin by dipping. This coating served to impregnate the deposit layer as well as to protect the layer if subsequent handling were required.


Author(s):  
W. D. Cooper ◽  
C. S. Hartley ◽  
J. J. Hren

Interpretation of electron microscope images of crystalline lattice defects can be greatly aided by computer simulation of theoretical contrast from continuum models of such defects in thin foils. Several computer programs exist at the present time, but none are sufficiently general to permit their use as an aid in the identification of the range of defect types encountered in electron microscopy. This paper presents progress in the development of a more general computer program for this purpose which eliminates a number of restrictions contained in other programs. In particular, the program permits a variety of foil geometries and defect types to be simulated.The conventional approximation of non-interacting columns is employed for evaluation of the two-beam dynamical scattering equations by a piecewise solution of the Howie-Whelan equations.


Author(s):  
D. L. Callahan ◽  
Z. Ball ◽  
H. M. Phillips ◽  
R. Sauerbrey

Ultraviolet laser-irradiation can be used to induce an insulator-to-conductor phase transition on the surface of Kapton polyimide. Such structures have potential applications as resistors or conductors for VLSI applications as well as general utility electrodes. Although the percolative nature of the phase transformation has been well-established, there has been little definitive work on the mechanism or extent of transformation. In particular, there has been considerable debate about whether or not the transition is primarily photothermal in nature, as we propose, or photochemical. In this study, cross-sectional optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy are utilized to characterize the nature of microstructural changes associated with the laser-induced pyrolysis of polyimide.Laser-modified polyimide samples initially 12 μm thick were prepared in cross-section by standard ultramicrotomy. Resulting contraction in parallel to the film surface has led to distortions in apparent magnification. The scale bars shown are calibrated for the direction normal to the film surface only.


Author(s):  
F. Shaapur

Non-uniform ion-thinning of heterogenous material structures has constituted a fundamental difficulty in preparation of specimens for transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A variety of corrective procedures have been developed and reported for reducing or eliminating the effect. Some of these techniques are applicable to any non-homogeneous material system and others only to unidirectionalfy heterogeneous samples. Recently, a procedure of the latter type has been developed which is mainly based on a new motion profile for the specimen rotation during ion-milling. This motion profile consists of reversing partial revolutions (RPR) within a fixed sector which is centered around a direction perpendicular to the specimen heterogeneity axis. The ion-milling results obtained through this technique, as studied on a number of thin film cross-sectional TEM (XTEM) specimens, have proved to be superior to those produced via other procedures.XTEM specimens from integrated circuit (IC) devices essentially form a complex unidirectional nonhomogeneous structure. The presence of a variety of mostly lateral features at different levels along the substrate surface (consisting of conductors, semiconductors, and insulators) generally cause non-uniform results if ion-thinned conventionally.


Author(s):  
J. T. Sizemore ◽  
D. G. Schlom ◽  
Z. J. Chen ◽  
J. N. Eckstein ◽  
I. Bozovic ◽  
...  

Investigators observe large critical currents for superconducting thin films deposited epitaxially on single crystal substrates. The orientation of these films is often characterized by specifying the unit cell axis that is perpendicular to the substrate. This omits specifying the orientation of the other unit cell axes and grain boundary angles between grains of the thin film. Misorientation between grains of YBa2Cu3O7−δ decreases the critical current, even in those films that are c axis oriented. We presume that these results are similar for bismuth based superconductors and report the epitaxial orientations and textures observed in such films.Thin films of nominally Bi2Sr2CaCu2Ox were deposited on MgO using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). These films were in situ grown (during growth oxygen was incorporated and the films were not oxygen post-annealed) and shuttering was used to encourage c axis growth. Other papers report the details of the synthesis procedure. The films were characterized using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).


Author(s):  
Ching Shan Sung ◽  
Hsiu Ting Lee ◽  
Jian Shing Luo

Abstract Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) plays an important role in the structural analysis and characterization of materials for process evaluation and failure analysis in the integrated circuit (IC) industry as device shrinkage continues. It is well known that a high quality TEM sample is one of the keys which enables to facilitate successful TEM analysis. This paper demonstrates a few examples to show the tricks on positioning, protection deposition, sample dicing, and focused ion beam milling of the TEM sample preparation for advanced DRAMs. The micro-structures of the devices and samples architectures were observed by using cross sectional transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and optical microscopy. Following these tricks can help readers to prepare TEM samples with higher quality and efficiency.


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