Application of focused ion beam lift-out specimen preparation to TEM, SEM, STEM, AES and SIMS analysis

Commercially available focused ion beam (FIB) workstations with spatial resolution of 5-7 nm can prepare specimens with excellent lateral resolution. This capability has been utilized extensively by the semiconductor industry to obtain materials characterization from continually smaller areas. The FIB has been adopted generally as a preparation tool for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The ability to prepare site-specific specimens that can be removed from the bulk of a sample provides enhanced SEM and TEM analyses and new approaches for other analytical tools. Dedicated scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) can provide images through samples several micrometers thick. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) can analyze with improved ability to identify a small particle. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) can provide trace analysis at high mass resolution. Automatic operation of FIB workstations permits the creation of multiple lift-out samples without the presence of an operator. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd