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Low Voltage Table-Top Electron Microscopy of Polymer and Organic Molecular Thin Films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2011

David C. Martin ,
Lawrence F. Drummy ,
Junyan Yang  and
Eva Coufalova
David C. Martin
Affiliation:
The Macromolecular Science and Engineering Center and the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Biomedical EngineeringThe University of Michigan, 2022 H. H. Dow Building, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2136
Lawrence F. Drummy
Affiliation:
The Macromolecular Science and Engineering Center and the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Biomedical EngineeringThe University of Michigan, 2022 H. H. Dow Building, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2136
Junyan Yang
Affiliation:
The Macromolecular Science and Engineering Center and the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Biomedical EngineeringThe University of Michigan, 2022 H. H. Dow Building, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2136
Eva Coufalova
Affiliation:
Delong Instruments s.r.o., Brno, Czech Republic
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Extract

There is intense current interest in the use of polymer and organic molecular materials for high technology devices including transistors, biosensors, and actuators [1]. In order for these materials to achieve their ultimate potential it is imperative to obtain detailed information about their microstructure, especially in the thin film forms central to technological applications. Our research group has been actively developing techniques for high-resolution electron optical examinations of polymers and organic materials, with particular emphasis on low dose high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) [2]. While this method of examining organic materials' structure has proven to be particularly powerful, current generations of electron microscopes suffer from several problems. They are expensive, require considerable amounts of space, and are time-consuming and fairly difficult to operate. Furthermore, the high voltages normally used in conventional electron microscopes (200-400 kV) provide little contrast when imaging thin films composed of low atomic number components.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 711: Symposia FF/GG/HH – Advanced Biomaterials--Characterization, Tissue Engineering and Complexity , 2001 , FF6.4.1
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002

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References

REFERENCES

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