The Gatan Precision Etching and Coating System II utilizes two (2) penning ion guns to etch and to coat an SEM sample in one evacuation. Ion etching the surface of a sample is done in cases when traditional grinding and polishing may not be sufficient or may adversely cause undesired reactions due to a specific sample’s chemistry. For metallography, ion etching is a viable and inert alternative to wet chemical etching, which is done to reveal grain microstructure.