Teflon for EPMA samples

[valentina batanova]

Dear all,
Does anyone have experience using Teflon embedded samples for EPMA? Does Teflon behave the same as epoxy when exposed to an electron beam? Any special unpleasant surprises?
This sample preparation method is commonly used for zircon fission-track (ZFT) analysis (e.g. https://esdynamics.geo.uni-tuebingen.de/wiki/files/ZFT-mounting.pdf)
Best regards
Valentina

[Warren Straszheim]

I don't see another reply, so I will contribute.

I would rather expect problems. I have found that Teflon charges severely in the SEM. It serves very well as an electron mirror. I cannot imagine it would be any better in EPMA at higher currents and voltages. It might take a carbon coating, but I doubt that the result would be good.

I think that you would be more satisfied with the results using epoxy. It is not a thermoplastic material and probably takes the heat of the beam better.

Is there a particular reason that you want to use Teflon? Are the particles flat and at the very surface? If they are not, that will be a problem.