FIB Sectioning and Imaging of Painted, Galvanized Autobody Steel

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  Cross-section of a polymeric paint layer on a steel body.

This section illustrates the relative insensitivity of FIB sectioning to variations in specimen density and hardness. Here, a relatively soft, polymeric paint layer with particle reinforcement covers a zinc galvanizing layer with partially cracked Fe-Zn intermetallic layer resulting from a reaction with the steel substrate. Although it is often necessary to vary ion beam parameters such as dose, pixel spacing, dwell time and raster pattern on a sample by sample basis, it is possible to successfully section nearly all materials, regardless of porosity, density variation or friability.