A Novel Technique for In-Situ TEM Characterization of Precipitates in Alloys

Thickness of specimen preparation is particularly crucial to TEM investigation of materials. Research on precipitates of alloys is numerous. However, results of selected area electron diffraction (SAD) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) have often been ambiguous especially for precipitates in nano-size due to the limitation of selected aperture size and the electron beam – specimen interaction volume. To obtain accurate and reliable results of precipitates in alloys, the ideal method is to isolate precipitates from the substrate/matrix. Precipitates in alloys have been investigated by replica extraction technique. However, precipitate extraction by etching has been difficult due to chemical selection and low success rate. This study presents a novel technique to isolate precipitates from other phases or substrate for accurate analysis while investigating the sample in TEM.