Focused ion beam

About: Focused ion beam is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 12154 publications have been published within this topic receiving 179523 citations. The topic is also known as: FIB.

Chemically and geometrically enhanced focused ion beam micromachining

Abstract: Improvements in focused ion beam (FIB) material removal rates utilizing geometric and chemical enhancement were investigated. Geometrical optimization of FIB micromachining of Permalloy and diamond was investigated to determine the magnitude of material removal rate gains that could be attained by increasing the angle of the ion beam with respect to the sample surface normal. The combination of geometrical optimization with chemical enhancement (C2Cl4 for Permalloy and H2O and XeF2 for diamond) was then investigated to determine whether additional gains in material removal rate could be attained. FIB sharpening of a diamond nanoindenter tip is also presented as a practical example of diamond micromachining with H2O as the removal rate enhancing species.

Depth control of focused ion-beam milling from a numerical model of the sputter process

Abstract: A mathematical model of focused ion-beam milling is used to generate dwell times for the vector scanned pixel address scheme of a focused ion-beam deflection system. The model incorporates the absolute sputter yield of the solid as a function of the angle of incidence, and the relationship between the ion-beam current distribution and the pixel size of the deflection pattern. The object of this work is to be able to call for an arbitrary geometric shape to be ion milled and then have the numerical model compute the pixel dwell times for the deflection system such that the final cavity is sputtered. Experimental verification of the procedure was accomplished with parabolic troughs, hemispherical troughs, and cosine troughs. The term “trough” means a plane of symmetry in the ion-milled cavity. These same geometric shapes were also ion milled using a rotational axis of symmetry, yielding sinusoidal ring patterns, parabolic dishes, and hemispherical dishes. The absolute maximum depth for each of the cavities ...

Primary‐ion charge compensation in SIMS analysis of insulators

Abstract: Primary‐ion charge compensation by means of simultaneous bombardment of the insulating specimen with a focused beam of low‐energy electrons has been investigated. The measurements were performed in a quadrupole‐type SIMS instrument which allowed the amount of charging to be measured in situ. The effectiveness of charge neutralization was investigated by monitoring the intensity, the mass resolution, and the line shape of both (positive) atomic and molecular secondary ions. It was found that in the range of electron energies investigated (100–500 eV) the energy has little effect on the amount of charge neutralization (for bombardment of a gadolinium iron garnet sample with 12‐keV argon ions). A well‐defined minimum electron current was required to provide compensation of the primary ion charge. ’’Supersaturation’’ with electrons caused only a negligible reduction in signal height. Studies with focused ion beams showed that effective neutralization requires compensation of the local primary ion current dens...

The Laplace project: An integrated suite for preparing and transferring atom probe samples under cryogenic and UHV conditions

Abstract: We present sample transfer instrumentation and integrated protocols for the preparation and atom probe characterization of environmentally-sensitive materials. Ultra-high vacuum cryogenic suitcases allow specimen transfer between preparation, processing and several imaging platforms without exposure to atmospheric contamination. For expedient transfers, we installed a fast-docking station equipped with a cryogenic pump upon three systems; two atom probes, a scanning electron microscope / Xe-plasma focused ion beam and a N2-atmosphere glovebox. We also installed a plasma FIB with a solid-state cooling stage to reduce beam damage and contamination, through reducing chemical activity and with the cryogenic components as passive cryogenic traps. We demonstrate the efficacy of the new laboratory protocols by the successful preparation and transfer of two highly contamination- and temperature-sensitive samples—water and ice. Analysing pure magnesium atom probe data, we show that surface oxidation can be effectively suppressed using an entirely cryogenic protocol (during specimen preparation and during transfer). Starting with the cryogenically-cooled plasma FIB, we also prepared and transferred frozen ice samples while avoiding significant melting or sublimation, suggesting that we may be able to measure the nanostructure of other normally-liquid or soft materials. Isolated cryogenic protocols within the N2 glove box demonstrate the absence of ice condensation suggesting that environmental control can commence from fabrication until atom probe analysis.