ULTRAMICROTOMY OF DIAMOND FILMS FOR TEM CROSS-SECTION ANALYSIS

Ultramicrotomy has been used to prepare TEM cross-sections of typical hard dielectric, semiconductor, and metal coatings, providing a critic al capability in the study of structure-property relationships of thin films. Ultramicrotomy of thin film coatings requires meticulous atten tion to technique and handling. The sample to be microtomed must be ve ry small, well bonded to the epoxy embedding medium, and precisely ori ented. In this article we report the ability to microtome TEM cross-se ctions of diamond and cubic boron-nitride (cBN) coatings. (C) 1995 Wil ey-Liss, Inc.