Practical Electron Microscopy and Database

FIB prepared specimens can be plasma-cleaned before TEM or SEM observation in order to minimize the growing of carbon contamination. It was also proposed that plasma cleaning can be used for reducing the thickness of the amorphous layers and for the removal of the Ga contamination introduced by the FIB milling [1 - 2]. Different gases, e.g. with a mixture of 75% Ar to 25% O, and some plasma cleaners can be used for the EM sample cleaning.

[1] Hata S, Sosiati H, Kuwano N, Itakura M, Nakano T, Umakoshi Y. 2006. Removing focused ion beam damages on trasmission electron microscopy by using a plasma cleaner. J Electron Microsc 55:23–26.
[2] Ko D-S, Park YM, Kim S-D, Kim Y-W. 2007. Effective removal of Ga residue from focused ion beam using a plasma cleaner. Ultramicroscopy 107:368–373.