Focused Ion Beams and Some Selected Applications

Abstract

Focused ion beams (FIBs) have been widely used for micro‐ and nanofabrication, failure analysis, and preparation of research prototypes. This article gives the reader a first and short introduction to the field of FIBs with some basics of FIB generation and an impression of a variety of main established applications as well as select new directions. We describe the design and the principles of functionality of common and new versions of FIB systems generated with different types of ion sources. For more details and further studies, some references to excellent review articles and books are given, which contain further references. An FIB system consists of a source emitting ions from a very small region, an ion optical system for focusing a spot down to a few nm and a scan unit for controlled movement of the focused beam in lateral directions. The ion beam interaction with the target material modifies its surface properties or surface structure by processes such as ion implantation, ion milling, ion‐beam induced etching, and deposition. The FIB offers the opportunity to generate structures in nanometer dimension with a high accuracy by maskless, direct writing with the focused beam. In this article, we give an overview of selected applications. The FIB alone, and moreover combined with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) in one vacuum chamber, implemented with several different detectors, opens many fields of applications, such as imaging, analytics, tomography, preparation and fabrication of samples and tools.

Printable conductive inks used for the fabrication of electronics: an overview

“…The nScrypt printing setup includes a dispenser integrated with a novel pump, which can handle materials of a wide viscosity range and induces suction of the excess ink, when dispensing is terminated, preventing the tip from clogging [36,37]. The MicroPen writing principle can be described as follows: after deposition of the material into a syringe connected to the printhead through a 'block', it is squeezed out of the syringe and then pressurized inside the 'block' in order to flow out of the tip depositing it onto the substrate [6,38].…”

On the effect of etching with a focused Ga-=SUP=-+-=/SUP=- ion beam in the energy range 12-30 keV on the luminescent properties of the Al-=SUB=-0.18-=/SUB=-Ga-=SUB=-0.82-=/SUB=-As/GaAs/Al-=SUB=-0.18-=/SUB=-Ga-=SUB=-0.82-=/SUB=-As heterostructure

“…The method of focused ion-beam (FIB) etching is traditionally used for preparation of samples for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) [1], local analysis, etching and deposition of materials [2], and fabrication of probes for atomic force microscopy (AFM) [3].…”

Analysis of the Spatial-Frequency Characteristics of the Photo-Assisted Method of a Quartz Rough Surface Nano-Polishing

“…In this case, an important characteristic of many optical elements is the level of surface roughness. At present, chemical-mechanical polishing methods [2] and vacuum plasma-chemical [3] etching are used to reduce surface roughness. A continuous search for new and more efficient ways of processing optical surfaces is in progress, among which we can highlight the method of using the optimal near-field [4] that is used for nano-polishing, such as quartz.…”