Parallel preparation of plan-view transmission electron microscopy specimens by vapor-phase etching with integrated etch stops

Specimen preparation remains a practical challenge in transmission electron microscopy and frequently limits the quality of structural and chemical characterization data obtained. Prevailing methods for thinning of specimens to electron transparency are serial in nature, time consuming, and prone to producing artifacts and specimen failure. This work presents an alternative method for the preparation of plan-view specimens using isotropic vapor-phase etching with integrated etch stops. An ultrathin amorphous etch-stop layer simultaneously serves as an electron transparent support membrane whose thickness is defined by a controlled growth process such as atomic layer deposition with sub-nanometer precision. This approach eliminates the need for mechanical polishing or ion milling to achieve electron transparency, and reduces the occurrence of preparation induced artifacts. Furthermore, multiple specimens from a plurality of samples can be thinned in parallel due to high selectivity of the vapor-phase etching process. These features enable dramatic reductions in preparation time and cost without sacrificing specimen quality and provide advantages over wet etching techniques. Finally, we demonstrate a platform for high-throughput transmission electron microscopy of plan-view specimens by combining the parallel preparation capabilities of vapor-phase etching with wafer-scale micro- and nanofabrication. - Highlights: • Parallel thinning of plan-view specimens enables high-throughput microscopy studies. • The support membrane thickness is controlled with sub-nanometer precision. • No physical etching (polishing, dimpling, or ion milling) is required. • Large area and uniformly thin specimens are suitable for Cs-corrected HRTEM. • Wafer-scale integration enables custom specimens for in situ experiments.