Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
A new procedure is developed for making TEM specimens of thin film devices. In this procedure the sample is flatly polished to an overall “ion-mill-ready” thickness so that any point in the 2-D sample plane can be thinned to an electron-transparent thickness by subsequent ionmilling. Using this procedure small regions of interest can be easily reached in both cross-section and plan-view samples. This is specially useful in device studies. Applications of this procedure to the study of superconductor devices yield good results. This procedure, using commercially available equipment and relatively cheap materials, is simple and easy to realize.