Application of BIB polishing technology in cross-section preparation of porous, layered and powder materials: A review

Abstract

For the accuracy of experimental results, preparing a high quality polished surface and cross-section of the materials for further analysis using electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), and scanning probe microscopy (SPM) is extremely important. Broad ion beam (BIB) polishing, a method based on the principle of ion bombardment, has irreplaceable advantages. It makes up for the drawbacks and limitations of traditional polishing methods such as mechanical polishing, electrochemical polishing, and chemical polishing. The ions will not leave the bombardment area during polishing, which makes the BIB method suitable for porous materials. The energy of the ion beam can be adjusted according to the sample to reduce the deformation and strain of the polishing area, especially for fragile, soft, and hard materials. The conditions that need to be controlled during BIB polishing are simple. This paper demonstrated the unique advantages of BIB polishing technology in porous, layered and powder materials characterization through some typical application examples, and guided more researchers to understand and utilize BIB polishing technology in the development of new applications.

Keywords

broad ion beam / polishing / layered material / powder / cross-section / porous material

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Disclosure of potential conflicts of interests

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for financial supports by the Science and Technology Major Project of Ningbo (Grant No. 2015S1001), the Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS (Grant No. 2016273), the Ningbo Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 2017A610039), and the Ningbo Science and Technology Plan Projects (Grant No. 2017F10015). Conceptualization, R.J., Y.Y.; Methodology, M.L.; Software, Y.Y.; Validation, J.G., Y.Y., R.J.; Investigation, R.J.; Data curation, Y.Y., M.L.; Writing-original draft preparation, R.J.; Writing-review & editing, Y.Y., H.L.; Supervision, M.L.; Project administration, H.L.; Funding acquisition, M.L., H.L.

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