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Thin-Film Phase Plates for Transmission Electron Microscopy Fabricated from Metallic Glasses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2016

Manuel Dries ,
Simon Hettler ,
Tina Schulze ,
Winfried Send ,
Erich Müller ,
Reinhard Schneider ,
Dagmar Gerthsen ,
Yuansu Luo  and
Konrad Samwer
Manuel Dries*
Affiliation:
Laboratorium für Elektronenmikroskopie (LEM), Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Engesserstraße 7, D-76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
Simon Hettler
Affiliation:
Laboratorium für Elektronenmikroskopie (LEM), Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Engesserstraße 7, D-76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
Tina Schulze
Affiliation:
Laboratorium für Elektronenmikroskopie (LEM), Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Engesserstraße 7, D-76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
Winfried Send
Affiliation:
Laboratorium für Elektronenmikroskopie (LEM), Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Engesserstraße 7, D-76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
Erich Müller
Affiliation:
Laboratorium für Elektronenmikroskopie (LEM), Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Engesserstraße 7, D-76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
Reinhard Schneider
Affiliation:
Laboratorium für Elektronenmikroskopie (LEM), Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Engesserstraße 7, D-76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
Dagmar Gerthsen
Affiliation:
Laboratorium für Elektronenmikroskopie (LEM), Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Engesserstraße 7, D-76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
Yuansu Luo
Affiliation:
I. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Göttingen, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany
Konrad Samwer
Affiliation:
I. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Göttingen, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany
*
*Corresponding author.manuel.dries@kit.edu
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Abstract

Thin-film phase plates (PPs) have become an interesting tool to enhance the contrast of weak-phase objects in transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The thin film usually consists of amorphous carbon, which suffers from quick degeneration under the intense electron-beam illumination. Recent investigations have focused on the search for alternative materials with an improved material stability. This work presents thin-film PPs fabricated from metallic glass alloys, which are characterized by a high electrical conductivity and an amorphous structure. Thin films of the zirconium-based alloy Zr65.0Al7.5Cu27.5 (ZAC) were fabricated and their phase-shifting properties were evaluated. The ZAC film was investigated by different TEM techniques, which reveal beneficial properties compared with amorphous carbon PPs. Particularly favorable is the small probability for inelastic plasmon scattering, which results from the combined effect of a moderate inelastic mean free path and a reduced film thickness due to a high mean inner potential. Small probability plasmon scattering improves contrast transfer at high spatial frequencies, which makes the ZAC alloy a promising material for PP fabrication.

Keywords

transmission electron microscopyphase platephase contrastthin filmmetallic glass alloy
Type
Instrumentation and Techniques Development
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 22 , Issue 5 , October 2016 , pp. 955 - 963
Copyright
© Microscopy Society of America 2016 

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