TW201901133A - Method of preparing specimen for carbon film of transmission electron microscope - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a method of preparing a specimen for carbon film of transmission electron microscope. The method includes exposing a precipitate on the specimen by electropolishing, and a surface of the specimen surrounding the precipitate keeps smooth. The smooth surface is advantageous to deposit and strip the carbon film.

Description

 Test piece processing method for carbon film of transmission electron microscope  

The present invention relates to a test piece processing method for a carbon film for a transmission electron microscope, and more particularly to a test piece processing method by electrolytic polishing, which can maintain the surface of the test piece around the precipitate in the treatment After the flatness, in order to facilitate the deposition and peeling of the carbon film.

Transmission electron microscope (TEM) is commonly used in materials science, nanotechnology, semiconductors or biological related optical imaging research. When a research object (hereinafter referred to as a test piece) requires a high resolution, the test piece is easily destroyed by an electron beam, or a particle needs to be extracted for identification, a carbon film is formed on the surface of the test piece to replicate the surface of the test piece. And use a carbon film for microscopic observation.

Taking the carbon steel test piece as an example, the current common carbon film preparation method includes first grinding and chemically etching the carbon steel test piece to expose the precipitate on the carbon steel test piece. The above chemical corrosion is usually carried out with an acid solution having a strong corrosive ability (for example, an ethanolic etching solution).

However, the above method has the following disadvantages: First, in the process of chemical corrosion, since the corrosion rate is difficult to control and the corrosion uniformity is low, the precipitates are easily peeled off from the carbon steel test piece (such as the carbon steel test piece 100 of FIG. 1A and the crystal The precipitate of the boundary 120 is shown by 110A). The above situation makes the carbon film difficult to grasp the comprehensive precipitates, resulting in misjudgment during analysis; in addition, during the chemical corrosion process, it is easy to cause contamination on the surface of the test piece, and the carbon film is easy to adhere to impurities; in addition, during chemical corrosion The corrosion degree of the test piece is not easy to control, so that the surface of the test piece after corrosion is rough (as shown in the carbon steel test piece 100 of FIG. 1B and the precipitate 110B located in the crystal grain 130), which is easy to be in the subsequent carbon film peeling process. , causing the carbon film to break, thus affecting the analytical results of the microscope. In particular, the disadvantage that the carbon film is easily broken also limits the size of the extractable precipitate, so that the current test piece processing method cannot be applied to a large-scale observation of observing a large precipitate or sample. If the carbon film thickness is increased to prevent carbon film damage, the resolution of the observation is affected.

Therefore, there is an urgent need to propose a test piece processing method for a carbon film of a transmission microscope, which can effectively overcome the above various problems, so as to obtain a carbon film with a complete and high purity, and observe a large-sized precipitate. Or perform a wide range of observations of the sample.

An aspect of the present invention provides a method for processing a test piece for a carbon film of a transmission electron microscope, which uses a specific electrolytic polishing method to expose a precipitate on a carbon steel test piece and to surround the precipitate. The surface of the carbon steel test piece is kept flat to facilitate adhesion and peeling of the subsequent carbon film.

According to the above aspect of the invention, a test piece processing method for a carbon film of a transmission electron microscope is proposed. In one embodiment, the above method comprises the steps of: firstly, providing a carbon steel test piece, wherein the carbon steel test piece comprises a precipitate; and subsequently, grinding a carbon steel test piece; and thereafter, testing the carbon steel The sheet is subjected to an electrolytic polishing step to expose precipitates on the carbon steel; then, a carbon film is deposited on the carbon steel test piece to cover the exposed precipitate; and the carbon film is peeled off from the carbon steel test piece and precipitated Things. The foregoing electropolishing step may include: immersing the carbon steel test piece in the electrolytic polishing liquid; and electrically connecting the carbon steel test piece to the anode of the electropolishing device, and passing the voltage of 10V to 25V for 60 seconds to 120 second. Further, the electrolytic polishing liquid is composed of perchloric acid and glacial acetic acid in a volume ratio of 1:3 to 1:5.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the electrolytic polishing liquid may be composed of perchloric acid and glacial acetic acid in a volume ratio of 1:4, and the concentration of perchloric acid may be 70% by weight or more, and the concentration of glacial acetic acid may be 99. More than weight percent.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the step of depositing the carbon film on the carbon steel test piece may include performing a vapor deposition step on the carbon steel test piece at a current of 20 A to 35 A for 30 seconds to 40 seconds.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the carbon film may have a thickness of 100 Å to 200 Å.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the step of peeling off the carbon film and the precipitate from the carbon steel test piece may include cutting the carbon film into a plurality of squares, and etching the carbon steel test piece with the etching liquid to thereby precipitate The material and the carbon film were peeled off from the surface of the carbon steel test piece.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the etching solution may be from 10% by weight to 20% by weight of nitric acid etching solution (Nital).

According to an embodiment of the invention, the etching step can be carried out for 1 minute to 3 minutes.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the precipitate comprises carbides, nitrides, sulfides, oxides or a combination thereof.

According to an embodiment of the invention, one of the precipitates has a size of not more than 4 μm.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the precipitate may be located on a grain boundary or in a grain of a carbon steel test piece.

By applying the test piece processing method of the present invention, the precipitate in the carbon steel test piece can be exposed and the surface of the carbon steel test piece around the precipitate can be maintained flat, which is favorable for deposition and peeling of the carbon film. In addition, the test strip method of the present invention can be applied to observe large-sized precipitates or perform large-scale sample observation, and can effectively avoid carbon film contamination caused by over-corrosion of carbon steel test pieces, thereby improving carbon film cleanliness. degree.

100, 300‧‧‧ carbon steel test strips

110A, 110B, 310A, 310B‧‧‧ precipitates

120, 320‧‧‧ grain boundary

130, 330‧‧‧ grain

200‧‧‧ method

210‧‧‧Providing carbon steel test strips

220‧‧‧Making the carbon steel test piece

230‧‧‧ Electrolytic polishing of carbon steel coupons to expose precipitates

240‧‧‧ deposited carbon film on carbon steel test piece to cover exposed precipitates

250‧‧‧Separation of carbon film and precipitate from carbon steel test piece

A better understanding of the aspects of the invention can be obtained from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings.

[Fig. 1A] and [Fig. 1B] are schematic cross-sectional views showing the condition of a carbon steel test piece having precipitates located on a grain boundary and in a crystal grain before and after chemical etching, respectively; [Fig. 2] is shown according to the present invention. A schematic flow chart of a test strip processing method for a carbon film of a transmission electron microscope according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Fig. 3A] and [Fig. 3B] are respectively shown on a grain boundary and in a crystal grain A schematic cross-sectional view of the carbon steel test piece of the precipitate before and after electropolishing as described in the examples of the present invention.

[Fig. 4A] to [Fig. 4C] respectively show a transmission electron microscope image of a carbon film of a precipitate obtained by the test piece processing method according to Example 1 of the present invention at different microscope magnifications, the scale of which is 0.5 μm.

5A to 5B are transmission electron micrographs of the carbon film of the precipitate obtained by the test piece processing method of Comparative Example 1, the scale of which is 0.5 μm.

An object of the present invention is to provide a test piece processing method for a carbon film of a transmission electron microscope. The above method utilizes a specific electrolytic polishing method to expose precipitates on the carbon steel test piece while keeping the surface of the carbon steel test piece around the precipitate flat. The above flat surface is advantageous for carbon film deposition and peeling. Specifically, the carbon film deposited on the precipitate can maintain the integrity of the carbon film without being damaged when peeled off from the carbon steel test piece together with the precipitate. Furthermore, the treatment method of the present invention can be applied to larger-sized precipitates and a wide range of sample observations, increasing application flexibility, and avoiding excessive corrosion of carbon steel test pieces to cause carbon film contamination, thereby keeping the carbon film clean. Degree, improve the observation resolution of fine precipitates.

The electropolishing method referred to in the present invention mainly utilizes the difference in composition and crystal structure between the surface precipitates of the test piece (for example, carbon steel test piece) and the substrate, so that the corrosion rate in the electropolishing process is different, thereby A technique in which precipitates are exposed to the surface of the test piece and the chance of segregation is reduced.

The test piece referred to herein as the present invention comprises various carbon steel test pieces which are generally common.

The precipitate referred to herein as a carbide comprises a carbide, a nitride, a sulfide, an oxide, or a combination thereof. In one example, the precipitate may be, for example, titanium carbide, titanium nitride, aluminum nitride, aluminum oxide, manganese sulfide, or the like, but the invention is not limited thereto.

The larger size precipitates referred to herein as the invention may be no greater than 4 μm.

The precipitate referred to herein as the present invention may be located on the grain boundaries or grains of the carbon steel test piece.

The carbon film referred to herein as the present invention may have a thickness of from 100 angstroms (Å) to 200 Å.

The pollution referred to in the present invention is derived from chemical corrosion (for example, using an etching solution) to expose a precipitate in a carbon steel test piece. Since the corrosion rate of chemical corrosion is not easily regulated, excessive corrosion often occurs, thereby Contamination of the subsequently deposited carbon film and affecting the observation of precipitates.

The mode of carrying out the test piece processing method of the present invention will be described below with reference to Fig. 2 . 2 is a schematic flow chart 200 of a test strip processing method for a carbon film of a transmission electron microscope according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, first, as shown in step 210, a carbon steel test piece is provided. The type of the carbon steel test piece referred to herein as the carbon steel test piece is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a high carbon steel test piece, a medium carbon steel test piece, or a low carbon steel test piece.

Next, as shown in step 220, the carbon steel test piece is subjected to a grinding step. The grinding step can be milled, for example, with sandpaper of different thickness. In one example, a coarse sandpaper can be ground to a No. 1200 sandpaper to initially remove the carbon steel material that coats the precipitate.

Then, as shown in step 230, the ground carbon steel test piece is subjected to an electropolishing step to expose the precipitate. The electropolishing step may comprise the steps of: first immersing the carbon steel test piece in the electrolytic polishing liquid; then, electrically connecting the carbon steel test piece to the anode of the electropolishing device, and passing through the 10V to 25V The voltage is 60 seconds to 120 seconds.

In one embodiment, the electrolytic polishing liquid is composed of perchloric acid and glacial acetic acid in a volume ratio of 1:3 to 1:5. In a preferred embodiment, the electrolytic polishing liquid is composed of perchloric acid and glacial acetic acid in a volume ratio of 1:4, wherein the concentration of perchloric acid may be 70% by weight or more, and the concentration of glacial acetic acid may be 99% by weight or more. In particular, if too much perchloric acid is present in the electrolytic polishing liquid, perchloric acid having a strong corrosive force excessively destroys the surface of the carbon steel test piece, causing the surface of the carbon steel to be uneven or corroded together with the precipitate. On the other hand, if the glacial acetic acid is too much, the electropolishing efficiency is not good.

The above electropolishing apparatus uses a generally common electrolytic polishing apparatus, and the cathode thereof may be, for example, a lead plate. If the voltage of the electropolishing device is too high or the electropolishing time is too long, the overall system generates too much heat and the carbon steel test piece is oxidized. On the other hand, if the electropolishing apparatus voltage is too low or the electropolishing time is too short, the electropolishing efficiency is not good.

Specifically, the present invention uniformly exposes the precipitate from the surface of the carbon steel test piece and maintains the surface of the carbon steel around the precipitate to be flat. Therefore, the electrolytic polishing liquid is sprayed on the surface of the carbon steel by a spraying technique. Furthermore, an advantage of the electropolishing step of the present invention is that the carbon steel test piece of the present invention only needs to be thinned (for example, thinned to less than 30% of the original thickness). The surface is exposed to the precipitated material, and the thickness of the carbon steel test piece is not substantially changed, so that the process is simple.

Please refer to FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, which are schematic cross-sectional views showing the carbon steel test piece having precipitates located on the grain boundary and in the crystal grains before and after electropolishing according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3A, when the precipitate 310A is located at the grain boundary 320 of the carbon steel test piece 300, the surface of the carbon steel test piece 300 after the electrolytic polishing step is still flat, and the precipitate 310A is still located in the carbon steel test piece 300. It did not fall off from the carbon steel test piece 300. On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 3B, when the precipitate 310B is located in the crystal grain 330 of the carbon steel test piece 300, the carbon steel test piece 300 after the electrolytic polishing step still maintains a flat surface.

Next, referring again to FIG. 2, as shown in step 240, a carbon film is deposited on the carbon steel coupon to cover the exposed precipitate. In one embodiment, the deposited carbon film comprises a current of 20 A to 35 A on a carbon steel test piece, and the carbon steel test piece is subjected to an evaporation step for 30 seconds to 40 seconds. The carbon film formed in the above embodiment has a thickness of about 100 angstroms to 200 angstroms. Still another advantage of the present invention is that the surface of the carbon steel test piece is flat, so that it is not necessary to increase the thickness of the carbon film to prevent breakage of the carbon film, so it can be applied to larger size precipitates or a wide range of sample observations.

Thereafter, as shown in step 250, the carbon film and the precipitate were peeled off from the carbon steel test piece. In one embodiment, the method of peeling off the carbon film and the precipitate comprises first cutting the carbon film into a plurality of squares, for example, a square of 3 mm (mm) × 3 mm; and then, using the etching solution to perform the carbon steel test piece. The etching step causes the precipitate and the carbon film to be peeled off from the surface of the carbon steel test piece. The etching solution may be, for example, 10% by weight to 20% by weight of nitric acid etching solution (Nital). In one embodiment, the etching step is performed for 1 minute to 3 minutes. If the etching step is insufficient for a long time, the carbon film and the precipitate cannot be completely peeled off from the carbon steel test piece. On the other hand, if the above corrosion time is too long, excessive corrosion may cause damage to the carbon film and affect its observation.

It is to be noted that the test piece processing method of the present invention is carried out in the absence of a magnetic field.

Next, differences between the present invention and the prior art will be specifically described by way of examples and comparative examples.

Example 1

The carbon steel test piece was cut into a size of 1 cm × 1 cm, and sandpaper of No. 100 to No. 1200 was sequentially used, and the surface of the carbon steel test piece was sequentially polished to initially expose the precipitate. After that, the carbon steel test piece was installed at the anode of the electropolishing apparatus, and the lead plate was used as a cathode, and a 20 V DC power source was passed through for electrolytic polishing for 120 seconds.

Next, a carbon steel test piece was taken out and a carbon film was deposited on the surface of the carbon steel test piece by a thermal evaporation method. The hot evaporation current is 20A to 35A and lasts for 30 seconds to 40 seconds. The deposited carbon film has a thickness of 100 angstroms to 200 angstroms.

Then, the carbon film is cut into a plurality of squares of 3 mm×3 mm by a blade, and then etched with a 10 wt.% to 20 wt.% nitric acid etching solution for about 1 minute to 3 minutes to remove the carbon film together with the precipitate. The carbon steel test piece was peeled off on the surface. The carbon film is then taken up by a copper mesh, and the carbon film is observed by a transmission electron microscope after the carbon film is dried, wherein the energy of the penetrating microscope is 200 kV.

Example 2

Example 2 was carried out in the same manner as in Example 1. The difference is that the composition ratio of the electrolytic polishing liquid, the voltage and the time of electropolishing are changed in Example 2, and the specific implementation conditions and evaluation results of Example 2 are shown in Table 1 below, and are not described herein.

Comparative example 1

The embodiment of Comparative Example 1 is the same as that of Example 1, except that Comparative Example 1 replaces the above electropolishing step with a chemical etching step of immersing a carbon steel test piece in 2 wt.% to 5 wt.% of nitric acid ethanol. The etching solution is allowed to stand for 3-5 minutes to corrode the surface of the carbon steel test piece. Further, Comparative Example 1 was etched using an 8 wt.% to 15 wt.% nitric acid etching solution to peel off the carbon film and the precipitate from the carbon steel test piece.

Comparative Examples 2 and 3

The embodiments of Comparative Examples 2 and 3 were the same as in Example 1, except that Comparative Examples 2 and 3 changed the composition of the electrolytic polishing liquid or the process conditions of electrolytic polishing. The implementation conditions and evaluation results of Comparative Examples 2 and 3 are shown in Table 1, and are not described here.

Table 1

Evaluation method

1. Applicable precipitate size

The applicable precipitate size as referred to herein means the size of the precipitate which can be grasped by the carbon film of the test strip processing method of the present invention and observed under a transmission electron microscope. In general, the larger the size of the applicable precipitate, the wider the range of applications representing the test strip processing method.

2. Carbon film integrity

The carbon film integrity referred to in the present invention is observed by a transmission electron microscope, and whether the carbon film obtained by the sample processing methods of the examples and the comparative examples is damaged, wherein "○" represents that the carbon film is intact and not damaged. It is advantageous for microscopic observation of precipitates; and "×" means that the carbon film is damaged, which is not conducive to microscopic observation of precipitates.

3. Carbon film cleanliness

The carbon film purity referred to in the present invention is observed by a transmission electron microscope, and whether the carbon film obtained by the test piece processing methods of the examples and the comparative examples is contaminated (that is, the cleanness is not good), wherein "○" "It represents the cleanness of the carbon film, which is beneficial to the microscope observation of a wide range of samples; "Δ" means that the carbon film is acceptable, and a wide range of samples can still be observed; and "X" represents the difference in the cleanliness of the carbon film, in a wide range. In the observation of the sample, fine precipitates are not easily observed.

According to the examples 1 to 2 of Table 1, the carbon film of the precipitate obtained by the test strip processing method of the present invention can grasp precipitates having a size of about 4 μm, and has good integrity and cleanliness, which is advantageous for general use. Observation of precipitates or a wide range of samples. On the other hand, in the precipitated carbon film of Comparative Example 1 which was subjected to sample treatment by chemical etching, the size of the precipitate to be applied was limited, and the integrity and cleanness of the carbon film were not good, which was disadvantageous for microscopic observation of the precipitate. In Comparative Example 2, which was subjected to electrolytic polishing using the electrolytic polishing liquid outside the composition claimed in the present invention, the precipitate was corroded by the electrolytic polishing liquid, and the carbon film integrity and the carbon film cleanness were also poor. Further, as shown in Comparative Example 3, if the electropolishing time was insufficient, the precipitates could not be completely revealed, and the integrity and cleanness of the carbon film were also poor.

4A to 4C are diagrams showing the penetration of the carbon film of the precipitate obtained by the test piece processing method of Example 1 of the present invention at a high (Fig. 4A and Fig. 4C) or low (Fig. 4B) microscope magnification. The electron micrograph has a scale of 0.5 μm. Referring to FIG. 4A first, by using the test piece processing method of the present invention, precipitates having a size of 1 μm to 2 μm (titanium nitride and aluminum oxide composite precipitates) can be grasped, and the carbon film around the precipitates is intact without damage. . Fig. 4B is a large-scale observation of the carbon film under a microscope of a lower magnification. As shown in Fig. 4B, the method of the present invention can maintain the purity of the carbon film, which is advantageous for observation of a large-sized precipitate. Further, as shown in FIG. 4C, with the test piece processing method of the present invention, a precipitate (titanium nitride) of 4 μm or less can be grasped by a carbon film.

5A to 5B are transmission electron micrographs of the carbon film obtained by the test piece processing method of Comparative Example 1, which has a scale of 0.5 μm. As shown in FIG. 5A, the carbon film around the precipitate is damaged, and the surface roughness of the carbon steel test piece around the precipitate is high due to the use of chemical corrosion, and the carbon film is not easily grasped by the carbon film during the peeling process. It may even cause the carbon film to break during the process. In addition to causing observational defects, the damaged carbon film also has the risk of contaminating the penetrating electron microscope machine. Fig. 5B is a large-scale observation of the carbon film of Comparative Example 1 under a microscope of a lower magnification. As shown in Fig. 5B, the degree of contamination of the carbon film is high, and it is difficult to observe fine precipitates. In order to improve the defects of carbon film damage, a thicker carbon film is generally deposited. However, a thicker carbon film relatively affects the resolution of an electron microscope, and it is also less likely to observe fine precipitates.

By using the test piece processing method of the carbon film for a transmission electron microscope of the present invention, the precipitate is exposed to the surface of the carbon steel by using a specific electrolytic polishing method, and the surface of the carbon steel around the precipitate is kept flat, thereby facilitating carbon Film deposition and peeling. Furthermore, the method of the present invention can be applied to a wide range of observation of precipitates and fine precipitates having a size of not more than 4 μm, and can effectively avoid contamination of the carbon film by over-corrosion of the carbon steel test piece.

While the invention has been described above in terms of several embodiments, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, and the invention may be practiced in various embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of protection of the present invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (10)

 A test piece processing method for a carbon film of a transmission electron microscope, comprising: providing a carbon steel test piece, wherein the carbon steel test piece comprises a precipitate; and the carbon steel test piece is subjected to a grinding step; The carbon steel test piece is subjected to an electropolishing step to expose the precipitate, wherein the electropolishing step comprises: immersing the carbon steel test piece in an electrolytic polishing liquid, wherein the electrolytic polishing liquid is made of perchloric acid and ice. Acetic acid is composed of a volume ratio of 1:3 to 1:5; and the carbon steel test piece is electrically connected to one of the anodes of an electropolishing device, and is passed through a voltage of 10V to 25V for 60 seconds to 120 seconds; deposition A carbon film is coated on the carbon steel test piece to cover the exposed precipitate; and the carbon film and the precipitate are peeled off from the carbon steel test piece.    The test strip processing method according to claim 1, wherein the electrolytic polishing liquid is composed of perchloric acid and glacial acetic acid in a volume ratio of 1:4, and one concentration of the perchloric acid is 70% by weight. Above, one of the concentrations of the glacial acetic acid is 99% by weight or more.    The test strip processing method according to claim 1, wherein the carbon film is deposited on the carbon steel test piece and comprises a current of 20A to 35A, and the carbon steel test piece is subjected to an evaporation step for 30 seconds. 40 seconds.    The test strip processing method according to claim 3, wherein the carbon film has a thickness of 100 Å to 200 Å.    The test strip processing method according to claim 1, wherein the stripping the carbon film from the carbon steel test piece and the precipitate comprises: cutting the carbon film into a plurality of squares; and treating the carbon film with an etching solution The carbon steel test piece was subjected to an etching step so that the precipitate and the carbon film were peeled off from a surface of the carbon steel test piece.    The test strip processing method according to claim 5, wherein the etching solution is 10% by weight to 20% by weight of nitric acid etching solution (Nital).    The test strip processing method according to claim 5, wherein the etching step is performed for 1 minute to 3 minutes.    The test piece processing method of claim 1, wherein the precipitate comprises a carbide, a nitride, a sulfide, an oxide, or a combination thereof.    The test piece processing method according to claim 1, wherein one of the precipitates has a size of not more than 4 μm.    The test piece processing method according to claim 1, wherein the precipitate is located on a grain boundary of one of the carbon steel test pieces or in a crystal grain.