A study of magnetic recording materials by electron microscopy

A study has been conducted on the iron oxide dispersions in synthetic rubber magnetic recording belts. In order to undertake this study, new methods of sample handling, sample preparation, and replica stripping were developed. Embedding and controlled microtoming techniques similar to those used in medical electron microscopy were adopted and employed to obtain transmission pictures. Replication pictures were obtained by means of specially developed techniques. By means of these techniques, it is possible to continue the study throughout the depth of the belt 0.5µ at a time.