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Ultramicrotomy for Materials Science

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 February 2011

T. F. Malis and
D. Steele
T. F. Malis
Affiliation:
Metals Technology Laboratories, CANMET, 568 Booth St, Ottawa, Canada K1A OG1
D. Steele
Affiliation:
Alcan International Ltd, Kingston R & D Center Box, 8400 Kingston, Ontario K71 4Z4
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Abstract

Diamond knife sectioning, or ultramicrotomy, is being used increasingly as an attractive alternative or complimentary means of producing quality TEM specimens. This paper represents a first attempt to provide a basic methodology for this technique for materials scientists, point out its drawbacks, provide a comprehensive listing of more than three decades of widely-scattered and ingeneous applications, and illustrate the diversity of these applications with clear examples. Suggestions will be made for further improvements in ultramicrotomy so that it can be applied in a more routine fashion to modern advanced materials or TEM applications involving demanding chemical microanalysis.

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