A user-friendly FIB lift-out technique to prepare plan-view TEM sample of 2D thin film materials

Nitul S Rajput; Karen Sloyan; Dalaver H Anjum; Matteo Chiesa; Amal Al Ghaferi

doi:10.1016/j.ultramic.2022.113496

A user-friendly FIB lift-out technique to prepare plan-view TEM sample of 2D thin film materials

Ultramicroscopy. 2022 May:235:113496. doi: 10.1016/j.ultramic.2022.113496. Epub 2022 Feb 17.

Authors

Nitul S Rajput¹, Karen Sloyan², Dalaver H Anjum³, Matteo Chiesa⁴, Amal Al Ghaferi⁵

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory for Energy and NanoScience (LENS), Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Advanced Materials Research Center, Technology Innovation Institute, PO Box 9639, Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Electronic address: nitul.rajput@tii.ae.
² Laboratory for Energy and NanoScience (LENS), Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Quantum Research Center, Technology Innovation Institute, PO Box 9639, Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
³ Department of Physics, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
⁴ Laboratory for Energy and NanoScience (LENS), Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Department of Physics and Technology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø 9010, Norway.
⁵ Laboratory for Energy and NanoScience (LENS), Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE.

PMID: 35245872
DOI: 10.1016/j.ultramic.2022.113496

Abstract

Plan-view transmission electron microscopy (TEM) or electron diffraction imaging of a bulk or 2D material can provide detailed information about the structural or atomic arrangement in the material. A systematic and easily implementable approach to preparing site-specific plan-view TEM samples for 2D thin film materials using FIB is discussed that could be routinely used. The methodology has been successfully applied to prepare samples from 2D materials such as, MoS₂ thin film, vertically oriented graphene film (VG), as well as heterostructure material SnTiS₃. It is worth mentioning that in contrast to planar conventional graphene, VG grows vertically from the substrate and takes nanosheet arrays. Samples prepared using this methodology provide a simple, faster, and precise course in obtaining valuable structural information. The top-view imaging offers various information about the growth nature of the materials suggesting the efficiency of the sample preparation process.

Keywords: 2D thin film materials; Focused ion beam; Plan-view TEM sample; Transmission electron microscopy.