Tripod polishing

It is possible to prepare thin foils from hard materials by mechanical methods alone. This is especially useful for modern nonmetallic electronic materials such as compound semiconductors and multication oxides. These materials are not easily polished chemically, and ion beams can cause unequal 

---

Traditionally, most TEM preparation was by first mechanically polishing thin sections down to optical translucency, then cutting discs, which were subsequently thinned to allow electron transmission by ion milling. New equipment, such as the Tripod polishing method, allows easier preparation before ion beam milling. More recently FIB techniques have opened up new possibilities for more precise sample preparation. The examples here come from the recent studies of Bazzoni (2014) and Rossen (2014). 

---