In this article, the effects of the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) specimen preparation techniques, such as ion milling and tripod polishing on perovskite oxides for high-resolution TEM investigation, are compared. Conventional and liquid nitrogen cooled ion milling induce a new domain orientation in thin films of SrRuO₃ and LaFeO₃ grown on (001)-oriented SrTiO₃ substrates. This is not observed in tripod-polished specimens. Different ion milling rates for thin films and substrates in cross-section specimens lead to artefacts in the interface region, degrading the specimen quality. This is illustrated by SrRuO₃ and PbTiO₃ thin films grown on (001)-oriented SrTiO₃. By applying tripod polishing and gentle low-angle, low-energy ion milling while cooling the sample, the effects from specimen preparation are reduced resulting in higher quality of the TEM study. In the process of making face-to-face cross-section specimens by tripod polishing, it is crucial that the glue layer attaching the slabs of material is very thin (<50 nm).

The quantitative measurement of a crystal bending effect is performed using low-order zone-axis convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) patterns. Although the accuracy of the present method is inferior to that of the method of using split higher order Laue zone lines, this method enables us to estimate the crystal bending effect at a region very close to the interface and to easily judge whether the crystal bending effect results in a tensile bend or a compressive bend. As an application of the present method, the crystal bending effect at a region close to the SiGe/Si interface was measured. It was found that the crystal bending effect is due to a thin-foil relaxation of almost 0.3° at a region that is ~10 nm away from the interface.

Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) is a very useful technique to study the interfacial diffusion and reactions and the grain growth of thin films. However, the preparation of XTEM samples of thin films is tedious and challenging. Difficulties may include the delamination of films from the substrate, fracture of brittle substrates and differential milling rates of the substrate and the film. This paper describes an improved technique using a combination of tripod polishing and focused ion beam milling to prepare XTEM samples of thin films. The technique can be widely used for high-throughput production of samples having varying film and substrate properties. Two different geometries are introduced. The first one is suitable for XTEM sample preparation of most films at a high yield rate, but with a limited view area. The other geometry is able to give a larger view area and is more suitable for thicker films. The technique is illustrated by an example of the sample preparation of Fe/Pt multilayer films on SiO₂/Si substrates.

A method to measure the aberration function for a crystalline specimen from a single inline hologram or ‘Ronchigram’ by dividing it up into small patches is derived. Measurement of aberrations is demonstrated from both dynamical simulations and experimental Ronchigrams. This method should allow rapid fine-tuning on a variety of crystalline specimens and represents a key step toward active optics for scanning transmission electron microscopy.

High-pressure freezing (HPF) has been generally accepted as the most reliable method for cryofixation of biological samples, yielding a deep vitreous freezing. In recent cell biology, mammalian cultured cells are widely used, but HPF of cultured cell monolayer has not reached its full potential. In this study, we developed a new reliable device for HPF of cultured cell monolayer by using a 10-µm-thin stainless disc both as culture plate and specimen carrier. We describe the practical procedure, and demonstrate fine structures of HeLa cells cultured and cryofixed on the stainless discs as results.