A user-friendly FIB lift-out technique to prepare plan-view TEM sample of 2D thin film materials.

• An easy approach to prepare plan-view TEM sample using FIB lift-out approach. • Plan view study of layered 2D materials. • HRTEM and SADP of misfit compound SnTiS 3 (SnS-TiS 2). • Plan-view imaging of vertically grown MoS 2 and graphene sheets (3D graphene). Plan-view transmission electron microscopy (TEM) or electron diffraction imaging of a bulk or 2D material can provide detailed information about the structural or atomic arrangement in the material. A systematic and easily implementable approach to preparing site-specific plan-view TEM samples for 2D thin film materials using FIB is discussed that could be routinely used. The methodology has been successfully applied to prepare samples from 2D materials such as, MoS 2 thin film, vertically oriented graphene film (VG), as well as heterostructure material SnTiS 3. It is worth mentioning that in contrast to planar conventional graphene, VG grows vertically from the substrate and takes nanosheet arrays. Samples prepared using this methodology provide a simple, faster, and precise course in obtaining valuable structural information. The top-view imaging offers various information about the growth nature of the materials suggesting the efficiency of the sample preparation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]