Hi All,
I am planning to perform TEM analysis of Al-Zn alloys. Just wondering if someone have recipe for TEM samples preparation for such soft alloys?
Have a great weekend
Cheers
Abdul
Hi Abdul,
I have experiences only with Al-Si-Mg alloys and Al-Zn is strange for me. Did you think about ion milling system? If you are worrying about then you have to try chemical or electrochemical polishing. Regarding the both, chemical and electrochemical polishing, I have some recipe notes in my "jotter":
Zn-Al = 50-70% nitric acid + water (chemical)
Zn-Al = 90% methanol + 10% perchloric acid (window method)
Al-Zn = 20% perchloric acid + 80 % absolute alcohol, voltage 15-20V and finish at 10-12V, current density 0.2A/cm2, temperature less than +30°C, after polishing clean the sample in ethylalcohol (electrochemical)
Al-Zn = 817cc orthophosphoric acid + 134cc sulphuric acid + 156g chromic oxide + 40cc water, voltage 10-12V, current density 0.05A/cm2, temperature 70°C (electrochemical)
Hope some of them will be effective.
Dear Vladimir,
Thank you for your informative response. I tried first time with ion milling and dimpling and was unsuccessful. Your shared recipe will be much useful for me to prepare/test TEM samples.
I experienced aggressive milling during dimpling and even through ion milling. I need to work for some time to develop a recipe for Al-Zn coating alloys.
Much appreciated for your information.
Cheers
Abdul
do u have access to FIB? I've cut many Al alloys using FIB and it works very well. Talk to Mathew at RMMF.
Dear Ahmad,
Thank you for your reply. I know FIB and we can do it. I am looking to have more working area for IMCs study. Therefore I am looking to adopt some other method. As a last resort, FIB is there anyway.
Ramadhan Kareem
Abdul
Soft metals (with no hard second phase) can be cut with ultramicrotome.
Dear Vladimir,
Thank you for your feedback. I have small volume fraction (~0.1%) IMCs that are hard compared to matrix. Any solution for such structures?
Regards
Abdul
You can try to cut. It is difficult to predict results. You may have some tears/holes at particles.
Dear Vladimir,
You are right as these Fe based IMCs are much harder compared to matrix. I am going to test few methods in the coming weeks.
Thanks for your input.
Cheers
Abdul
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