Method and apparatus for in-situ sample preparation
AssigneeICT Integrated Circuit Testing Gesellschaft für Halbleiterprüftechnik mbH
InventorJUERGEN FROSIEN
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Abstract
An apparatus for in-situ specimen preparation is described. The apparatus includes an ion beam column 21 including at least: an liquid metal alloy ion source 56 including a first element for providing a light ion species with a mass of 10 g/mol to 60 g/mol and a second element for providing a heavy ions species with a mass of 150 g/mol or higher, a mass separator 58 for selectively separating the light ion species and the heavy ion species, and a focusing element for focusing the ion beam on a specimen. The apparatus further includes a specimen-beam-tilt unit for tilting the ion beam with respect to the specimen.
Claims21
An apparatus for in-situ specimen preparation, comprising:
- a vacuum chamber for enclosing a specimen;
- an ion beam device, wherein the ion beam device is connected to the vacuum chamber, the ion beam device comprising:
- a liquid metal alloy ion source including a first element for providing a light ion species with a mass of 10 g/mol to 60 g/mol and a second element for providing a heavy ion species with a mass of 150 g/mol or higher;
- a mass separator for selectively separating the light ion species and the heavy ion species;
- and
- a focusing element for focusing an ion beam on the specimen;
- a specimen-beam-tilt unit for tilting the ion beam with respect to the specimen;
- and
- an electron beam device, wherein the electron beam device is connected to the vacuum chamber.
A method of preparing a cross-section of a specimen with an ion beam device, comprising:
- irradiating the specimen with an ion beam of a heavy ion species generated by the ion beam device under a first beam landing angle;
- and
- irradiating the specimen with an ion beam of a light ion species generated by the ion beam device under a second beam landing angle, wherein the second beam landing angle is different from the first beam landing angle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.