Materials Problems and Approaches for TEM and TEM/STEM Analyses - Sample Preparation Topic for Transmission Electron Microscopy - page 64

Surface Growth
Roughness

Oriented Film Surface Particles

Fig. 4.2 Different types of surface topographies

Fig. 4.3 ( a ) AFM picture of the surface of a PZT ferroelectric film deposited by laser ablation.
( b ) TEM plan-view picture showing surface precipitates in a superconductor film of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7
( J. Ayache, CSNM-IN2P-CNRS 1341, Orsay )

SEM and AFM (Fig. 4.3a) microscopies. However, the structural analysis of a sur-
face film deposited on a substrate, a thin film, or a material dispersed upon a surface
can also be performed using a TEMwhich brings, in addition, structural information
(Fig. 4.3b).

6 Structural Analysis in TEM

6.1 Morphology and Structure of Materials

These are investigations related to the microstructure of the material volume.
Morphological analyses of volume phases can be conducted on all types of
materials and macroscopic organizations in which the material is found: bulk,
single-layer, multilayer, or fine particle materials (Fig. 4.4) . Structural analyses help
to identify the number of chemical phases present in bulk material depending on
whether it is single phase or multiphase.
Generally for materials in solid-state physics, structural analysis may be car-
ried out by combining observation modes, depending on the sample type: bright
field, dark field, filtered imaging, diffraction, chemical analysis, and spectroscopic