Method and device for the preparation of materials samples for examinations of materials

When producing oblique cuts on material samples by means of the ion beam method, it is a disadvantage that high-accuracy positioning of the cut with the aid of a mechanical diaphragm requires the presence of a plane sample surface and an expensive vacuum feed-through for the movement of the diaphragm on the scanning electron microscope (SEM). With the aid of the novel solution, it is intended to be possible to carry out high-precision positioning of accurate cuts with selectable edge profile in the microscopic range, while avoiding mechanical diaphragms. According to the invention, a structured contamination layer is produced on the material sample by using a moved electron beam in a carbon-containing gas with a pressure below 130 Pa, which layer serves as an etching mask and is subsequently etched in plasma discharge with reactive or unreactive ions. A device used for this purpose is characterised in that the sample support (1) is located in a housing having a gas supply (3) for the material sample (5), in that an electrically insulated, earthed electrode plate (9) having a transmission window for an electron beam is arranged in the sample support (1), in that the material sample (5) can be connected alternately to earth potential or, relative to the electric plate (9), to the radio-frequency voltage, and in that the device is in its entirety mounted displaceably and rotatably. The invention is... in the microanalysis of materials, preferably ... Original abstract incomplete.