Atom probe apparatus and method for working sample preliminarily for the same

Abstract

Problems to be solved by the present invention are to present a technique for preliminarily working a sample, which makes a place, that is desired to be analyzed, of a device into an acicular protrusion by locally cutting out the place, and to provide, even if the sample is a sample of a multilayer structure containing element layers whose evaporation electric fields are small in later-mentioned circumstances, a technique for making a stable ion evaporation in order possible, thereby making an SAP analysis at an atomic level possible. A preliminarily working of a sample for an atom probe apparatus of the invention comprises a step of cutting out a sample's desired observation site to a block-like form by using an FIB apparatus, a step of carrying and fixing the block-like cut-out sample onto a sample substrate, and a step of working the block-like sample fixed onto the sample substrate into a needle tip shape by an FIB etching. Further, the sample worked into the needle tip shape is formed such that a layer direction of a multilayer structure becomes parallel to a longitudinal direction of a needle.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.