| AVS 54th International Symposium | |
| In-situ Electron Microscopy Topical Conference | Monday Sessions |
| Session IE-MoM |
| Session: | Structure-Property Characterization |
| Presenter: | P.V. Deshmukh, E.A. Fischione Instruments, Inc. |
| Authors: | P.V. Deshmukh, E.A. Fischione Instruments, Inc. P.E. Fischione, E.A. Fischione Instruments, Inc. C.M. Thomas, E.A. Fischione Instruments, Inc. J.J. Gronsky, E.A. Fischione Instruments, Inc. |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
In situ monitoring of events in transmission electron microscopy provides information on how materials behave in their true state in the presence of various gases, under varying conditions of temperature and pressure. These results are usually different from static, post-reaction observations.1, 2,3 To facilitate applications that demand in situ observations, a transmission electron microscope specimen holder has been developed. This holder incorporates a gas flow and heating mechanism along with a window-type environmental cell. A controlled mixture of up to four different gases can be circulated through the cell. The specimen can be heated up to a temperature of 800 °C using a carbon dioxide laser. This heating technique provides major advantages over conventional heating methods in terms of product life, specimen heating time and design size. The cell design incorporates a 200 micron high chamber enclosed between a pair of 20 nm thick silicon nitride windows. The chamber can accommodate a specimen or a grid having a diameter of 3 mm and thickness in the range of 50 to 100 microns. The volume for the gas environment within the chamber is approximately 0.7 mm3 and the gas path length is less than 0.1 mm. This holder has been designed by incorporating cutting edge heating and MEMS technology to achieve excellent resolution along with a low thermal drift. Successful application of this holder would provide scientists with an economical alternative to dedicated transmission electron microscopes for a vast array of in situ applications including understanding the basic material properties, catalysis reactions, semiconductor device development, and nano structure fabrication.
1 Dynamic in situ electron microscopy as a tool to meet the challenges of the nanoworld, NSF workshop report, Tempe, Arizona, 2006.
2 R. Sharma, Design and Application of Environmental Cell Transmission Electron Microscope for In Situ Observation of Gas Solid Reactions, Microscopy and Microanalysis, 7, 494, 2001.
3 I M. Robertson and D. Teter, Controlled Environmental Transmission Electron Microscopy, Microscopy Research and Technique, 42, 260, 1998.