Improved TEM samples of semiconductors prepared by a small-angle cleavage technique

✍ Scribed by John P. McCaffrey

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1993
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 535 KB
• Volume: 24
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1059-910X
• DOI: 10.1002/jemt.1070240210

✦ Synopsis

A small-angle cleavage technique has been developed that produces superior transmission electron microscope (TEM) samples of semiconductors and related materials. The technique involves back-thinning the sample to approximately 100 km, then scribing a groove on this back face at a specified small angle to a standard cleavage plane. The sample is cleaved along this scribe line followed by cleaving along the standard cleavage plane to produce a thin wedged sample. Samples prepared by this method are characterized and compared with conventional and low-angle ion milled samylles. The technique is illustrated, and the characteristic geometry of the cleaved sample is explained in terms of a simplified cleavage model.