Quantitative in-situ TEM nanotensile testing of single crystal Ni facilitated by a new sample preparation approach

Vahid Samaeeaghmiyoni; Hosni Idrissi; Jonas Groten; Ruth Schwaiger; Dominique Schryvers

doi:10.1016/j.micron.2016.12.005

Quantitative in-situ TEM nanotensile testing of single crystal Ni facilitated by a new sample preparation approach

Micron. 2017 Mar:94:66-73. doi: 10.1016/j.micron.2016.12.005. Epub 2016 Dec 21.

Authors

Vahid Samaeeaghmiyoni¹, Hosni Idrissi², Jonas Groten³, Ruth Schwaiger⁴, Dominique Schryvers⁵

Affiliations

¹ Electron Microscopy for Materials Science (EMAT), Department of Physics, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium. Electronic address: vahid.Samaeeaghmiyoni@uantwerpen.be.
² Electron Microscopy for Materials Science (EMAT), Department of Physics, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium; Institute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering, Université catholique de Louvain, Place Sainte Barbe 2, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Electronic address: hosni.idrissi@uantwerpen.be.
³ Institute for Applied Materials, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany. Electronic address: jonas.groten@gmx.de.
⁴ Institute for Applied Materials, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany. Electronic address: ruth.schwaiger@kit.edu.
⁵ Electron Microscopy for Materials Science (EMAT), Department of Physics, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium. Electronic address: nick.schryvers@uantwerpen.be.

PMID: 28076759
DOI: 10.1016/j.micron.2016.12.005

Abstract

Twin-jet electro-polishing and Focused Ion Beam (FIB) were combined to produce small size Nickel single crystal specimens for quantitative in-situ nanotensile experiments in the transmission electron microscope. The combination of these techniques allows producing samples with nearly defect-free zones in the centre in contrast to conventional FIB-prepared samples. Since TEM investigations can be performed on the electro-polished samples prior to in-situ TEM straining, specimens with desired crystallographic orientation and initial microstructure can be prepared. The present results reveal a dislocation nucleation-controlled plasticity, in which small loops induced by FIB near the edges of the samples play a central role.

Keywords: FIB-induced damages; Focused ion beam; In-situ TEM tensile test; Size effect; Twin-jet electro-polishing.