Thin-Film Phase Plates for Transmission Electron Microscopy Fabricated from Metallic Glasses
Thin-Film Phase Plates for Transmission Electron Microscopy Fabricated from Metallic Glasses
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DOI：
10.1017/s143192761601165x
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发表时间：
2015-10
影响因子：
2.8
通讯作者：
Manuel Dries;S. Hettler;T. Schulze;W. Send;E. Müller;R. Schneider;D. Gerthsen;Yuansu Luo;K. Samwer
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Manuel Dries;S. Hettler;T. Schulze;W. Send;E. Müller;R. Schneider;D. Gerthsen;Yuansu Luo;K. Samwer
摘要 薄膜相位板（PP）已成为增强透射电子显微镜（TEM）中弱相位物体对比度的有趣工具。薄膜通常由无定形碳组成，在强烈的电子束照射下会快速退化。最近的研究重点是寻找具有改进的材料稳定性的替代材料。这项工作提出了由金属玻璃合金制成的薄膜聚丙烯，其特点是高导电率和非晶结构。制备了锆基合金Zr65.0Al7.5Cu27.5（ZAC）薄膜并评估了其相移性能。通过不同的 TEM 技术对 ZAC 薄膜进行了研究，揭示了与无定形碳 PP 相比的有益特性。特别有利的是非弹性等离激元散射的可能性很小，这是由于中等非弹性平均自由程和由于高平均内电势而减少的膜厚度的综合效应造成的。小概率等离子体散射改善了高空间频率下的对比度传递，这使得 ZAC 合金成为 PP 制造的有前景的材料。
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.