Introduction to Focused Ion Beam Technology and its Application

Dr. Christine Kranz, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry presented a lecture at the Nano@Tech Meeting on January 22, 2008 at 12 noon in room 102 of the MiRC buildingRuntime: 60:14 minutesWithin the last decade Focused Ion Beam technology has developed from a routine semiconductor tool into a versatile research instrument for characterization and prototyping. A major step towards the convergence of nanotechnology and nanoscience is the development and utilization of technologies, which allow precise patterning and assembly of features at a nanoscale. Dual beam FIB/SEM technology provides unsurpassed control and resolution during milling, deposition, and characterization at the nanoscale, thereby enabling high-resolution 3-D prototyping, machining, and structuring crucial to the development of next-generation functional nanodevices. An unambiguous advantage of FIB technology is the possibility for maskless milling and deposition processes. Application of FIB technology includes failure analysis, circuit repair and mask repair in microelectronics and TEM sample preparation. Recently, FIB has been also used in fabrication of scanning probe tips, optical devices and sensor technology. Nanostructuring using focused ion beams is governed by different parameters given by the beam profile, by the angle of incidence, by ion species, ion dose, and energy, and by the structural and chemical change of the sample by ion implantation. Within this presentation an overview of this technology along with novel applications but also limitations will be presented