Focused ion beam, also known as FIB, is a scientific instrument that resembles a scanning electron microscope. However, whereas the SEM uses a focused beam of electrons to image the sample in the chamber, a FIB instead uses a focused beam of gallium ions. Gallium is chosen because it is easy to build a gallium liquid metal ion source (LMIS). In a Gallium LMIS, gallium metal is placed in contact with a tungsten needle and heated. Gallium wets the tungsten, and a huge electric field (greater than 10⁸ volts per centimeter) causes ionization and field emission of the gallium atoms. SEM Cambridge S150 at Geological Institute, University Kiel, 1980 SEM opened sample chamber The scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a type of electron microscope capable of producing high resolution images of a sample surface. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gallium, Ga, 31 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 13, 4, p Appearance silvery white   Atomic mass 69. ... An ion is an atom or group of atoms that normally are electrically neutral and achieve their status as an ion by loss (or addition) of an electron. ... General Name, Symbol, Number tungsten, W, 74 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 6, 6, d Appearance grayish white, lustrous Atomic mass 183. ... Wetting of different fluids. ...

These ions are then accelerated to an energy of 5-50 keV (kiloelectronvolts), and then focused onto the sample by electrostatic lenses. A modern FIB can deliver tens of nanoamps of current to a sample, or can image the sample with a spot size on the order of a few nanometers. The electronvolt (symbol eV, or, rarely and incorrectly, ev) is a unit of energy. ...

Photograph of a FIB workstation

Unlike an electron microscope, the FIB is inherently destructive to the specimen. When the high-energy gallium ions strike the sample, they will sputter atoms from the surface. Gallium atoms will also be implanted into the top few nanometers of the surface, and the surface will be made amorphous. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (801x685, 134 KB) Photograph of a modern focused ion beam workstation. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (801x685, 134 KB) Photograph of a modern focused ion beam workstation. ... Sputtering is a physical process whereby atoms in a solid target material are ejected into the gas phase due to bombardment of the material by energetic ions. ... Ion implantation is a materials engineering process by which ions of a material can be implanted into another solid, thereby changing the physical properties of the solid. ... An amorphous solid is a solid in which there is no long-range order of the positions of the atoms. ...

Because of the sputtering capability, the FIB is used as a micro-machining tool, to modify or machine materials at the micro- and nanoscale.

A FIB can also be used to deposit material via ion beam induced deposition. FIB-assisted chemical vapor deposition occurs when a gas, such as tungsten carbonyl (W(CO)₆) is introduced to the vacuum chamber and allowed to chemisorb onto the sample. By scanning an area with the beam, the precursor gas will be decomposed into volatile and non-volatile components; the non-volatile component, such as tungsten, remains on the surface as a deposition. This is useful, as the deposited metal can be used as a sacrificial layer, to protect the underlying sample from the destructive sputtering of the beam. Other materials such as platinum can also be deposited. Ion beam induced deposition or IBID is a technique for direct-write (maskless lithography) metallisation of substrates. ... DC plasma (violet) enhances the growth of carbon nanotubes in this laboratory-scale PECVD apparatus. ... General Name, Symbol, Number platinum, Pt, 78 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 10, 6, d Appearance grayish white Atomic mass 195. ...

FIB is often used in the semiconductor industry to patch or modify an existing semiconductor device. For example, in an integrated circuit, the gallium beam could be used to cut unwanted electrical connections, or to deposit conductive material in order to make a connection. The semiconductor industry is the collection of business firms engaged in the design and fabrication of semiconductor devices. ... Semiconductor devices are electronic components that exploit the electronic properties of semiconductor materials, principally silicon, germanium, and gallium arsenide. ... Integrated circuit showing memory blocks, logic and input/output pads around the periphery A monolithic integrated circuit (also known as IC, microchip, silicon chip, computer chip or chip) is a miniaturized electronic circuit (consisting mainly of semiconductor devices, as well as passive components) which has been manufactured in the surface...

SEM image of a thin TEM sample milled by FIB.

The FIB is also commonly used to prepare samples for the transmission electron microscope. The TEM requires very thin samples, typically ~100 nanometers. Other techniques, such as ion milling or electropolishing can be used to prepare such thin samples. However, the nanometer-scale resolution of the FIB allows the exact thin region to be chosen. This is vital, for example, in integrated circuit failure analysis. If a particular transistor out of several million on a chip is bad, the only tool capable of preparing an electron microscope sample of that single transistor is the FIB. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1024x800, 205 KB)SEM micrograph of a wide-bandgap semiconductor prepared for TEM by focused-ion-beam milling. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1024x800, 205 KB)SEM micrograph of a wide-bandgap semiconductor prepared for TEM by focused-ion-beam milling. ... SEM Cambridge S150 at Geological Institute, University Kiel, 1980 SEM opened sample chamber The scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a type of electron microscope capable of producing high resolution images of a sample surface. ... Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is an imaging technique whereby a beam of electrons is focused onto a specimen causing an enlarged version to appear on a fluorescent screen or layer of photographic film (see electron microscope), or can be detected by a CCD camera. ... Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is an imaging technique whereby a beam of electrons is focused onto a specimen causing an enlarged version to appear on a fluorescent screen or layer of photographic film (see electron microscope), or can be detected by a CCD camera. ... Electropolishing, sometimes called reverse electroplating, is an electrochemical process which polishes a metal surface by removing a microscopic amount of material from the work piece. ...

The drawback to FIB sample preparation is the above-mentioned surface damage and implantation. However, this is usually only noticeable in high-resolution "lattice imaging" TEM. By lightly ion-milling the sample after completing the FIB preparation, much of this damage can be removed.

In short, the FIB is a useful and versatile tool in the materials sciences and semiconductor fields. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A semiconductor is a solid whose electrical conductivity can be controlled over a wide range, either permanently or dynamically. ...