AVS 58th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition
    Helium Ion Microscopy Focus Topic Tuesday Sessions
       Session HI+AS-TuA

Paper HI+AS-TuA11
TEM Specimen Preparation with Light Ions

Tuesday, November 1, 2011, 5:20 pm, Room 106

Session: Basics of Helium Ion Microscopy
Presenter: Lucille Giannuzzi, L.A. Giannuzzi & Associates LLC
Correspondent: Click to Email
Much research with light energetic ions such as He+ and Ne+ from gas field ionization sources has focused on imaging and nano-machining. It is a natural progression to question to the viability of TEM specimen preparation using these light ions. Of vital importance for TEM specimen preparation quality is the understanding of surface ion implantation and amorphization damage. Theoretical calculations using SRIM indicate that there may be a damage trade off between vacancy formation, ion range, and dose. That is, the range of light ions is much greater than conventional heavy ions (e.g., Ga+), and can indeed penetrate directly through a TEM specimen. While this may indicate the possibility of light ions damaging the entire TEM specimen thickness, light ions produce far less vacancies per ion compared to heavy ions for the same dose. However, since the sputter yield of light ions is smaller than heavy ions, a larger dose of light ions may be necessary to achieve sufficient material sputtering. This theory will be supplemented with experimental results.