AVS 45th International Symposium
    Applied Surface Science Division Tuesday Sessions
       Session AS-TuM

Paper AS-TuM9
The Correlation Between Ion Beam/Material Interactions and Practical FIB Specimen Preparation

Tuesday, November 3, 1998, 11:00 am, Room 307

Session: Sample Preparation and Tricks of the Trade
Presenter: B.I. Prenitzer, University of Central Florida
Authors: B.I. Prenitzer, University of Central Florida
L.A. Giannuzzi, University of Central Florida
S.R. Brown, Cirent Semiconductor
T.L. Shofner, Bartech Group
R.B. Irwin, Cirent Semiconductor
F.A. Stevie, Cirent Semiconductor
Correspondent: Click to Email
Nanometer scale, high resolution Ga@super+@ ion probes, attainable in commercially available focused ion beam (FIB) instruments, allow sputtering/deposition operations to be performed with a high degree of spatial precision. In addition to semicondutor applications, FIB methods have been applied to the preparation of SEM and TEM specimens from a host of materials that have traditionally proven to be challenging from the standpoint of either composition or geometry. As FIB applications increase in diversity, it becomes necessary to examine the interrelationships between target material, variable processing parameters, and process efficiency of the milling phenomena. The roles of incident ion attack angle, beam current, raster pattern, and target material dependent removal rate are considered as applied to the FIB lift-out method. Careful characterization of such relationships is used to explain observed phenomena and predict expected milling behaviors, thus expediting the fine tuning process for new or novel applications and allowing the FIB to be used more efficiently with reproducible results. Applications involving fibers, powders, and interfaces in metal, ceramic, and biological materials are presented.