Low-Energy Focused Ion Beam Milling Provides Reduced Damage During TEM Sample Preparation

Abstract

Abstract The combined focused ion beam (FIB) and scanning electron microscope (SEM), known as the DualBeam, is well-known for its unique ability to produce site-specific thin samples starting from bulk and then attaching the section to a transmission electron microscope (TEM) grid, all in-situ. It has been reported that producing a thin sample using a 30 kV gallium FIB creates surface damage several tens of nanometers deep. However, recent DualBeam technology improvements now enable the FIB to produce thin samples with a thickness well below 50 nanometers and deliver a tightly focused ion beam at an energy of 2 kV and below, which dramatically reduces the damage depth to as low as 1 to 2 nanometers in typical materials, such as silicon.