| An analytical transmission electron microscope (ATEM) yields an impressive amount of information from a single instrument. The chemical composition of small areas of a sample is often obtained by energy dispersive x-ray microanalysis (EDX). EDX is routinely used both in research and industry to obtain fractions of heavier elements (Z > 11). To allow quantitative EDX analysis of samples containing light elements (B, C, N, O, F, Mg and Si) we developed, fabricated and characterized a set of three calibration samples. These calibration specimens allow users to obtain experimental Cliff-Lorimer factors with 10% to 15% accuracy and are sufficiently stable during storage, as well as under electron beam irradiation. Quantitative electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) was employed to characterize these samples.; The good light-element sensitivity of EELS makes it a suitable method for chemical analysis of biological samples in ATEM. It is desirable to probe the detection limits of EELS and energy filtering transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) as well as determine what physical processes underlying these limits. We find that a TEM/EELS system is capable quantifying of 2000 ppm of boron with about 10% accuracy and 1 μm resolution. EFTEM mapping using Gatan Image filter is capable of mapping 5000 ppm of boron with 66 nm pixel size. The minimum detectable fraction (MDF) was limited by detector gain-variations and beam-shot noise. Spatial (EFTEM or TEM/EELS) mapping of low boron concentrations is important for boron-neutron capture therapy (BNCT), a method of cancer treatment. The high spatial resolution of TEM imaging and chemical analysis was applied to study microscopic mechanism of growth of thin films deposited onto oblique (rotating) substrate. The structure of these films can vary between arrays of columns (stationary substrate), helices (slowly-rotated substrate) or pillars (fast-rotated substrate). These structures (columns, pillars, helices) are composed of many individual fibers growing simultaneously. The fiber-diameter is characteristic of the deposition material and its ratio of substrate and melting point temperatures (Ts/Tm). Our experiments show that it is possible to grow regular arrays of pillars or helices by depositing onto a substrate which has been pre-patterned with an array of artificial nuclei. The repeat distance of such regular arrays can be varied at least between 18 nm and one micrometer. The pillars and helices within a regular array have narrower size distributions than those within a random array. This property can be attributed to the regularity of shadowing within a regular array. |
