In Situ Transmission Electron Microscope Studies of Ion Irradiation-Induced and Irradiation-Enhanced Phase Changes

1991 ◽  
Vol 235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles W. Allen

ABSTRACTMotivated at least initially by materials needs for nuclear reactor development, extensive irradiation effects studies employing transmission electron microscopes (TEM) have been performed for several decades, involving irradiation-induced and irradiation-enhanced microstructural changes, including phase transformations such as precipitation, dissolution, crystallization, amorphization, and order-disorder phenomena. From the introduction of commercial high voltage electron microscopes (HVEM) in the mid-1960s, studies of electron irradiation effects have constituted a major aspect of HVEM application in materials science. For irradiation effects studies two additional developments have had particularly significant impact; (1) the development of TEM specimen holders in which specimen temperature can be controlled in the range 10–2200 K and (2) the interfacing of ion accelerators which allows in situ TEM studies of irradiation effects and the ion beam modification of materials within this broad temperature range. This paper treats several aspects of in situ studies of electron and ion beam-induced and enhanced phase changes and presents two case studies involving in situ experiments performed in an HVEM to illustrate the strategies of such an approach of the materials research of irradiation effects.

1996 ◽  
Vol 439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles W. Allen ◽  
Edward A. Ryan

AbstractSince Fall 1995, a state-of-the-art intermediate voltage electron microscope (IVEM) has been operational in the HVEM-Tandem Facility with in situ ion irradiation capabilities similar to those of the HVEM of the Facility. A 300 kV Hitachi H-9000NAR is interfaced to the two ion accelerators of the Facility, with a demonstrated point-topoint spatial resolution for imaging of 0.25 nm with the ion beamline attached to the microscope. The IVEM incorporates a Faraday cup system for ion dosimetry with measurement aperture 6.5 cm from the TEM specimen, which was described in Symposium A of the 1995 MRS Fall Meeting. The IVEM is now employed for a variety of in situ ion beam studies ranging from low dose ion damage experiments with GaAs, in which damage zones individual displacement cascades are observed, to implantation studies in metals, in which irradiation-induced noble gas precipitate mobility is studied in real time. In this presentation, the new instrumentation and its specifications will be described briefly, several basic concepts relating to in situ experiments in transmission electron microscopes will be summarized and examples of in situ experiments will be presented which exploit the experimental capabilities of this new user facility instrumentation.


Author(s):  
R. C. Birtcher ◽  
L. M. Wang ◽  
C. W. Allen ◽  
R. C. Ewing

We present here results of in situ TEM diffraction observations of the response of U3Si and U3Si2 when subjected to 1 MeV electron irradiation or to 1.5 MeV Kr ion irradiation, and observations of damage occuring in natural zirconolite. High energy electron irradiation or energetic heavy ion irradiation were performed in situ at the HVEM-Tandem User Facility at Argonne National Laboratory. In this Facility, a 2 MV Tandem ion accelerator and a 0.6 MV ion implanter have been interfaced to a 1.2 MeV AEI high voltage electron microscope. This allows a wide variety of in situ experiments to be performed with simultaneous ion irradiation and conventional transmission electron microscopy. During the electron irradiation, the electron beam was focused to a diameter of about 2 μ.m at the specimen thin area. The ion beam was approximately 2 mm in diameter and was uniform over the entire specimen. With the specimen mounted in a heating holder, the temperature increase indicated by the furnace thermocouple during the ion irradiation was typically 8 °K.


Author(s):  
M.A. O’Keefe ◽  
J. Taylor ◽  
D. Owen ◽  
B. Crowley ◽  
K.H. Westmacott ◽  
...  

Remote on-line electron microscopy is rapidly becoming more available as improvements continue to be developed in the software and hardware of interfaces and networks. Scanning electron microscopes have been driven remotely across both wide and local area networks. Initial implementations with transmission electron microscopes have targeted unique facilities like an advanced analytical electron microscope, a biological 3-D IVEM and a HVEM capable of in situ materials science applications. As implementations of on-line transmission electron microscopy become more widespread, it is essential that suitable standards be developed and followed. Two such standards have been proposed for a high-level protocol language for on-line access, and we have proposed a rational graphical user interface. The user interface we present here is based on experience gained with a full-function materials science application providing users of the National Center for Electron Microscopy with remote on-line access to a 1.5MeV Kratos EM-1500 in situ high-voltage transmission electron microscope via existing wide area networks. We have developed and implemented, and are continuing to refine, a set of tools, protocols, and interfaces to run the Kratos EM-1500 on-line for collaborative research. Computer tools for capturing and manipulating real-time video signals are integrated into a standardized user interface that may be used for remote access to any transmission electron microscope equipped with a suitable control computer.


Author(s):  
Charles W. Allen ◽  
Robert C. Birtcher

The uranium silicides, including U3Si, are under study as candidate low enrichment nuclear fuels. Ion beam simulations of the in-reactor behavior of such materials are performed because a similar damage structure can be produced in hours by energetic heavy ions which requires years in actual reactor tests. This contribution treats one aspect of the microstructural behavior of U3Si under high energy electron irradiation and low dose energetic heavy ion irradiation and is based on in situ experiments, performed at the HVEM-Tandem User Facility at Argonne National Laboratory. This Facility interfaces a 2 MV Tandem ion accelerator and a 0.6 MV ion implanter to a 1.2 MeV AEI high voltage electron microscope, which allows a wide variety of in situ ion beam experiments to be performed with simultaneous irradiation and electron microscopy or diffraction.At elevated temperatures, U3Si exhibits the ordered AuCu3 structure. On cooling below 1058 K, the intermetallic transforms, evidently martensitically, to a body-centered tetragonal structure (alternatively, the structure may be described as face-centered tetragonal, which would be fcc except for a 1 pet tetragonal distortion). Mechanical twinning accompanies the transformation; however, diferences between electron diffraction patterns from twinned and non-twinned martensite plates could not be distinguished.


2007 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 38-39
Author(s):  
D. J. MacMahon ◽  
E. Raz-Moyal

Semiconductor manufacturers are increasingly turning to Transmission Electron Microscopes (TEMs) to monitor product yield and process control, analyze defects, and investigate interface layer morphology. To prepare TEM specimens, Focused Ion Beam (FIB) technology is an invaluable tool, yielding a standard milled TEM lamella approximately 15 μm wide, 5 μm deep and ~100 nm thick. Several techniques have been developed to extract these tiny objects from a large wafer and view it in the TEM. These techniques, including ex-situ lift-out, H-bar, and in-situ lift-out, have different advantages and disadvantages, but all require painstaking preparation of one specimen at a time.


1996 ◽  
Vol 439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miyoko Tanaka ◽  
Kazuo Furuya ◽  
Tetsuya Saito

AbstractFocused ion beam (FIB) irradiation of a thin Ni2Si layer deposited on a Si substrate was carried out and studied using an in-situ transmission electron microscope (in-situ TEM). Square areas on sides of 4 by 4 and 9 by 9 μm were patterned at room temperature with a 25keV Ga+-FIB attached to the TEM. The structural changes of the films indicate a uniform milling; sputtering of the Ni2Si layer and the damage introducing to the Si substrate. Annealing at 673 K results in the change of the Ni2Si layer into an epitaxial NiSi2 layer outside the FIB irradiated area, but several precipitates appear around the treated area. Precipitates was analyzed by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Larger amount of Ni than the surrounding matrix was found in precipitates. Selected area diffraction (SAD) patterns of the precipitates and the corresponding dark field images imply the formation of a Ni rich silicide. The relation between the FIB tail and the precipitation is indicated.


Author(s):  
R.J. Young ◽  
A. Buxbaum ◽  
B. Peterson ◽  
R. Schampers

Abstract Scanning transmission electron microscopy with scanning electron microscopes (SEM-STEM) has become increasing used in both SEM and dual-beam focused ion beam (FIB)-SEM systems. This paper describes modeling undertaken to simulate the contrast seen in such images. Such modeling provides the ability to help understand and optimize imaging conditions and also support improved sample preparation techniques.


1993 ◽  
Vol 316 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Coffa ◽  
A. Battaglia ◽  
F. Priolo

ABSTRACTThe mechanisms of defect accumulation and dynamic annealing in ion-implanted crystalline and amorphous Si are elucidated by performing conductivity and Raman spec-trascopy measurements in-situ during ion irradiation. In amorphous Si the entire gamut of defect structures has been characterized by analyzing the annealing kinetics from 77 K to ~ 800 K both during and after irradiation. Moreover the modifications in the electronic properties of crystalline Si produced by ion-irradiation have been investigated. The use of in-situ techniques in combination with transmission electron microscopy and deep-level transient spectroscopy allowed us to demonstrate the correlation between structural and electrical defects produced by ion-irradiation in Si.


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