Cut a Micro "Butter"

The picture "Cut a Micro Butter" was taken at the UNB Microscopy & Microanalysis Facility in Thermo Fisher Scientific Scios 2 DualBeam FIB-SEM EDS, along with the strong technical support of Mr. Steven Cogswell. This image shows the surface of a zirconia sample magnified 8,000 times. In terms of the ditch on the surface, we use the Focused Ion Beam (FIB) technique, which cut a trench on the sample surface via high energy gallium ions, just like cut a piece of butter. And the little cross near the trench is a platinum mark for location calibration and adjustment. The little trench is only 5 micrometer deep and 10 micrometer wide, which is like the typical length of a bacteria or 10 times thinner than a human hair. This FIB technique on SEM is available at our campus, which is greatly helpful in my research, especially in the clean energy field. The material interaction, compatibility, and corrosion are examined in detail and visualized by this technology.