• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.326-331
• /
• 2023

The utilization of scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) in conjunction with cathodoluminescence (CL) has emerged as a valuable tool for the investigation of material optical properties. In recent years, this technique has facilitated significant advancements in the fields of plasmonics and quantum emitters by surpassing prior technical restrictions. The review commences by providing an outline of the diverse STEM-CL operating modes and technical aspects of the instrumentation. The review explains the fundamental physics of light production under electron beam irradiation and the physical basis for interpreting STEM-CL experiments for different types of excitations. Additionally, the review compares STEM-CL to other related techniques such as scanning electron microscope CL, photoluminescence, and electron energy-loss spectroscopy.

• Applied Microscopy
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.132-133
• /
• 2018

One of the most important factors determining the properties of a material is its grain size. However, unclear grain boundaries in the image hinder an accurate measurement of grain size. We demonstrate that grain boundaries existing in the images obtained by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) can be clearly distinguished by applying a Sobel filter to a tilting series of STEM images of a hydrogenation-disproportionation-desorption-recombination processed Nd2Fe14B magnet sample.

• Applied Microscopy
• /
• v.50
• /
• pp.23.1-23.9
• /
• 2020

We propose an effective deep learning model to denoise scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) image series, named Noise2Atom, to map images from a source domain 𝓢 to a target domain 𝓒, where 𝓢 is for our noisy experimental dataset, and 𝓒 is for the desired clear atomic images. Noise2Atom uses two external networks to apply additional constraints from the domain knowledge. This model requires no signal prior, no noise model estimation, and no paired training images. The only assumption is that the inputs are acquired with identical experimental configurations. To evaluate the restoration performance of our model, as it is impossible to obtain ground truth for our experimental dataset, we propose consecutive structural similarity (CSS) for image quality assessment, based on the fact that the structures remain much the same as the previous frame(s) within small scan intervals. We demonstrate the superiority of our model by providing evaluation in terms of CSS and visual quality on different experimental datasets.

• Applied Microscopy
• /
• v.51
• /
• pp.19.1-19.7
• /
• 2021

The main purpose of this paper is the preparation of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) samples from the microsized powders of lithium-ion secondary batteries. To avoid artefacts during TEM sample preparation, the use of ion slicer milling for thinning and maintaining the intrinsic structure is described. Argon-ion milling techniques have been widely examined to make optimal specimens, thereby making TEM analysis more reliable. In the past few years, the correction of spherical aberration (Cs) in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) has been developing rapidly, which results in direct observation at an atomic level resolution not only at a high acceleration voltage but also at a deaccelerated voltage. In particular, low-kV application has markedly increased, which requires a sufficiently transparent specimen without structural distortion during the sample preparation process. In this study, sample preparation for high-resolution STEM observation is accomplished, and investigations on the crystal integrity are carried out by Cs-corrected STEM.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
• /
• v.4 no.3
• /
• pp.21-30
• /
• 1991

Microstructural analysis was conducted to observe the effect of aging treatments in a Cr-Mn austenitic stainless steel containing nitrogen, and the amount, size, shape and distribution of precipitates were investigated. It was found that on water quenching from $1000^{\circ}C$ after holding 3 h at that temperature, the steel contained no precipitates observable by optical microscopy. Precipitation of phases begins at places most favorable for the formation of nuclei-in the boundaries of grains and twins. Precipitates were studied in detail by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Chemical compositions of precipitates were examined by the use of scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) together with an energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) microanalysis. Also chromium depletion adjacent to grain boundary precipitates was investigated by the use of Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) for a direct examination of the fracture surface chemistry.

• 한국전자현미경학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2001.11a
• /
• pp.18-22
• /
• 2001

A technique to characterize specific site of materials using a combination of a dedicated focused ion beam system(FIB), and Intermediate-voltage scanning transmission electron microscope(STEM) or transmission electron microscope(TEM) equipped with a scanning electron microscope(SEM) unit has been developed. The FIB system is used for preparation of electron transparent thin samples, while STEM or TEM is used for localization of a specific site to be milled in the FIB system. An FIB-STEM(TEM) compatible sample holder has been developed to facilitate thin sample preparation with high positional accuracy Positional accuracy of $0.1{\mu}m$ or better can be achieved by the technique. In addition, an FIB micro-sampling technique has been developed to extract a small sample directly from a bulk sample in a FIB system These newly developed techniques were applied for the analysis of specific failure in Si devices and also for characterization of a specific precipitate In a metal sample.

• Applied Microscopy
• /
• v.45 no.4
• /
• pp.225-229
• /
• 2015

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are a class of two-dimensional (2D) materials that have attracted growing interest because of their promising applications. The properties of TMDs strongly depend on the crystalline structure and the number and stacking sequence of layers in their crystals and thin films. Though electrical, mechanical, and magnetic studies of 2D materials are being conducted, there is an evident lack of direct atom-by-atom visualization, limiting insight on these highly exciting material systems. Herein, we present our recent studies on the characterization of 2D layered materials by means of aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), in particular via high angle annular dark field (HAADF) imaging. We have identified the atomic arrangements and defects in 2H stacked TMDs, 1T stacked TMDs, distorted 1T stacked TMDs, and vertically integrated heterojunctions of 2D TMDs crystals.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.7
• /
• pp.2304-2311
• /
• 2021

The dislocation density in strain-hardened Alloy 690 was analyzed using scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) to study the relationship between the local plastic strain and susceptibility to primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) in nuclear power plants. The test material was cold-rolled at various thickness reduction ratios from 10% to 40% to simulate the strain-hardening condition of plant components. The dislocation densities were measured at grain boundaries (GB) and in grain interiors of strain-hardened specimens from STEM images. The dislocation density in the grain interior monotonically increased as the strain-hardening proceeded, while the dislocation density at the GB increased with strain-hardening up to 20% but slightly decreases upon further deformation to 40%. The decreased dislocation density at the GB was attributed to the formation of deformation twins. After the PWSCC growth test of strain-hardened Alloy 690, the fraction of intergranular (IG) fracture was obtained from fractography. In contrast to the change in the dislocation density with strain-hardening, the fraction of IG fracture increased remarkably when strain-hardened over 20%. From the results, it was suggested that the PWSCC growth behavior of strain-hardened Alloy 690 not only depends on the dislocation density, but also on the microstructural defects at the GB.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.14 no.6
• /
• pp.301-312
• /
• 2015

Corrosion of zirconium fuel cladding is known to limit the lifetime and reloading cycles of fuel in nuclear reactors. Oxide layers formed on ZIRLO4^{TM}$ cladding samples, after immersion for 300-hour and 50-day in a simulated primary water chemistry condition ($360^{\circ}C$ and 20 MPa), were analyzed by using the scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), in-situ transmission electron microscopy (in-situ TEM) with the focused ion beam (FIB) technique, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Both samples (immersion for 300 hours and 50 days) revealed the presence of the ZrO sub-oxide phase at the metal/oxide interface and columnar grains developed perpendicularly to the metal/oxide interface. Voids and micro-cracks were also detected near the water/oxide interface, while relatively large lateral cracks were found just above the less advanced metal/oxide interface. Equiaxed grains were mainly observed near the water/oxide interface.

• International Journal of Korean Welding Society
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.29-39
• /
• 2003

The durability and reliability of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) play an important role in the service reliability, availability and maintainability (RAM) of hot­section components in advanced turbine engines for aero and utility applications. Photostimulated luminescence spectroscopy (PSLS) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) are being concurrently developed as complimentary non­destructive evaluation (NDE) techniques for quality control and life­remain assessment of TBCs. This paper overviews the governing principles and applications of the luminescence and the impedance examined in the light of residual stress, phase constituents and resistance (or capacitance) in TBC constituents including the thermally grown oxide (TGO) scale. Results from NDE by PSLS and EIS are discussed and related to the microstructural development during high temperature thermal cycling, examined by using a variety of microscopic techniques including focused ion beam (FIB) in­situ lift­out (INLO), transmission and scanning transmission electron microscopy (TEM and STEM).