In accordance with the invention, there is a method of fabricating a material for transmission electron microscopy comprising removing a first portion from a material having a thickness of (d.sub.1) to form a thinned material having a thickness of (d.sub.2), contacting the thinned material to a sacrificial layer having a thickness of (s.sub.1), and removing a second portion from the thinned material so the thinned material has a thickness of (d.sub.3), wherein (d.sub.3)<(d.sub.2).