TEM sample preparation for microcompressed nanocrystalline Ni

Ultra-large compressive plasticity at room temperature has recently been observed in electrodeposited nanocrystalline nickel (nc-Ni) under micro-scale compression (Pan, Kuwano, Fujita, Chen, Nano Letters 7, 2108 (2007)). The evolution of microstructure of nc-Ni during ultra-large deformation is outlined at a variety of strain levels, with TEM observations in combination with a TEM sample preparation technique using focused ion beam (FIB). This paper demonstrates focused ion beam (FIB) technique to prepare transmission electron microscopy (TEM) samples from microcompressed specimens. There has been a demand to prepare TEM samples from a point of interest to study microstructures on atomic scales. Conventional techniques used to make TEM samples, such as chemical polishing or ion-sputtering milling, cannot provide reliable opportunity to make TEM samples from a point of interest. With this technique, the deformation mechanism on atomic scales can be fairly connected with the result of microcompression test, which is available for size-limited materials.