FIB-shield: a structure to safely transfer and precisely mount beam-sensitive TEM specimens under focused ion beam

Abstract

Focused ion beam (FIB) has been adopted extensively for transmission electron microscope (TEM) sample preparation during the past decades. However, ion beam- and deposition-induced damage during transferring and mounting of the sample cannot be effectively avoided, limiting the application of FIB in ion-beam illumination-sensitive samples. A transferring device called the FIB shield is designed and fabricated to greatly reduce the damage and contamination of the sample during transfer and mounting under Ga+ beam imaging, milling and Pt deposition. Nearly damage-free transfer and precise positioning and attachment of beam-sensitive in situ TEM nanoindentation samples are achieved. The effectiveness of the shielding plate to block Ga+ radiation damage during Ga+ beam imaging and milling and that of the buffer region to alleviate sputtering damage during Pt deposition are verified by corresponding experiments.