Metallic materials are known to be very sensitive to Gallium (Ga) focused ion beam (FIB) processing. Crystal defects formed by FIB irradiation degrade the transmission electron microscope (TEM) image quality, and it is difficult to distinguish original defects from FIB process induced damage. A solution to this problem is the low acceleration voltage and low incident angle (LVLA) Argon (Ar) ion milling which can be incorporated as an extensional countermeasure for FIB damage removal and eventually for preparation of high-quality lamellae. The TEM image quality of iron single crystal could be improved by removing crystal defects using the LVLA Ar ion milling finish. Lamella quality of the processing result was almost similar with that of the conventional electrolytic polishing. As a practical application of the process, low damage lamella of stainless cast steel could be prepared. Effectiveness of the FIB system equipped with the LVLA Ar ion milling function as a tool to make high quality metallic material lamellae is illustrated. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

中文翻译：

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低加速电压和低入射角ar离子铣削精加工fib工艺制备金属材料的低损伤薄片

众所周知，金属材料对镓 (Ga) 聚焦离子束 (FIB) 处理非常敏感。FIB 辐射形成的晶体缺陷会降低透射电子显微镜 (TEM) 图像质量，并且难以区分原始缺陷和 FIB 过程引起的损伤。该问题的解决方案是低加速电压和低入射角 (LVLA) 氩 (Ar) 离子铣削，可将其用作 FIB 损伤去除的延伸对策，并最终用于制备高质量的薄片。通过使用 LVLA Ar 离子铣削表面去除晶体缺陷可以提高铁单晶的 TEM 图像质量。加工结果的薄片质量与常规电解抛光的薄片质量几乎相似。作为该过程的实际应用，可以制备不锈钢铸钢的低损伤薄片。说明了配备有 LVLA Ar 离子铣削功能的 FIB 系统作为制造高质量金属材料薄片的工具的有效性。本文受版权保护。版权所有。