8. Beryllium Support Films

A deposition of 250 Angstroms thick Beryllium onto the 0.005" thick, 25 x 25 mm squares of a Cu substrate. The Be can be removed by dissolving the substrate in nitric acid (50:50). The Be film will then be removed from the acid, washed in distilled water and mounted on TEM grids. A Be support film will reduce background interference to a minimum and it is particularly useful where analyses for C or Si are required, so that these alternative supports cannot be used. Another advantage of the Be support is its very fine grain size which produces a very sharp ring pattern for in-situ calibration.