Abstract
Focused ion beam method, which has excellent capabilities such as local deposition and selective etching, is widely used for micro-electromechanical system (MEMS)-based in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) sample fabrication. Among the MEMS chips in which one can apply various external stimuli, the electrical MEMS chips require connection between the TEM sample and the electrodes in MEMS chip, and a connected deposition material with low electrical resistance is required to apply the electrical signal. Therefore, in this study, we introduce an optimized condition by comparing the electrical resistance for C-, Pt-, and W- ion beam induced deposition (IBID) at 30 kV and electron beam induced deposition (EBID) at 1 and 5 kV. The W-IBID at 30 kV with the lowest electrical resistance of about 30 Ω shows better electrical properties than C- and Pt-IBID electrodes. The W-EBID at 1 kV has lower electrical resistance than that at 5 kV; thus, confirming its potential as an electrode. Therefore, for the materials that are susceptible to ion beam damage, it is recommended to fabricate electrical connections using W-EBID at 1 kV.
Highlights
Focused ion beam (FIB) has the ability to locally deposit materials, etch a specimen by using the gas injection system, and selectively mill the surface of the specimen through ion sputtering without conventional photomasks (Giannuzzi and Stevie 1999)
FIB sampling method becomes more important in micro-electromechanical system (MEMS)-based in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) (Mele et al 2016; Vijayan et al 2017) in which we can observe real-time microstructural changes influenced by external stimuli such as electrical current and thermal and mechanical stress
Because Pt- and C-electron beam induced deposition (EBID) at 1 and 5 kV have very high electrical resistances, they are difficult to be used for the electrical connection between the TEM specimen and the electrodes in MEMS chips
Summary
Focused ion beam (FIB) has the ability to locally deposit materials, etch a specimen by using the gas injection system, and selectively mill the surface of the specimen through ion sputtering without conventional photomasks (Giannuzzi and Stevie 1999). FIB has been widely used to fabricate specimens for transmission electron microscopy (TEM). FIB sampling method becomes more important in micro-electromechanical system (MEMS)-based in situ TEM (Mele et al 2016; Vijayan et al 2017) in which we can observe real-time microstructural changes influenced by external stimuli such as electrical current and thermal and mechanical stress. For in situ TEM with electrical MEMS chips, the formation of a conducting path with low electrical resistance is required to connect TEM specimens to the electrodes in a MEMS chip. The conducting path can be formed either by ion beam
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