ion milling

"Ion milling" is a specimen preparation technique that is used when electrolytic polishing or chemical polishing cannot be used to prepare a specimen. This technique is particularly effective for the specimen preparation when cross-section observations of layered materials are requested. A thin cross sectional film is prepared by milling surface layer atoms with the irradiation of an argon ion beam accelerated at 2 kV to 10 kV with a grazing incidence angle less than 10°. The disadvantage of ion milling is that damage to the specimen is unavoidable. Commercially-available ion-milling instruments are equipped with an optical microscope or a CCD camera with a magnification of several ten times to view the state of the specimen.

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