Physicist Gregor Hlavacek, head of the EU project FIT4NANO, is responsible for HZDR’s state-of-the-art facility that can generate and analyze nanostructures using particularly finely focused ion beams. Credit: Oliver Killig/HZDR
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Physicist Gregor Hlavacek, head of the EU project FIT4NANO, is responsible for HZDR’s state-of-the-art facility that can generate and analyze nanostructures using particularly finely focused ion beams. Credit: Oliver Killig/HZDR
The range of applications for finely focused ion beams is vast, such as processing materials at the nanoscale, manufacturing microelectronic prototypes, or analyzing biological samples. Experts from the EU collaboration FIT4NANO are currently considering a number of options and creating a roadmap for the future.
Article published in applied physics reviewsIt is aimed at students, industrial and scientific users, and research policy makers.
“We realized that focused ion beams could be used in a variety of ways, and thought we had a good overview at the start of the project. But then we realized there were more uses than we had realized. Many publications describe how to use it. The details of the focused ion beam are not mentioned explicitly and are hidden in the methods section,” the comprehensive said Dr. Katia Haefrich, a physicist at the Ferdinand Braun Institute and Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB) who coordinated the report.
“It was detective work. In particular, we uncovered works from the 1960s and 1970s that were ahead of their time but unfairly forgotten. They still provide important insights today.”
This report reviews the current state of focused ion beam (FIB) technology, its applications including many examples, the most important equipment developments and future prospects.
“We wanted to provide a useful reference for academic and industrial R&D departments, but also for research managers to find their own way in this field.” ,” said Dr. Gregor Hlavacek, group leader at the Ion Beam Physical Materials Laboratory. Research at Dresden-Rossendorf-Helmholtzzentrum (HZDR). Mr. Hlawacek is leading his EU project on FIB technology, his FIT4NANO project, in which the authors of the report also participate.
From basic research to completed components
FIB instruments typically use a focused ion beam of 2 to 30 kiloelectron volts (keV). Such ion beams have small diameters in the nanometer and subnanometer range, allowing them to scan the sample and change its surface with nanometer precision. FIB instruments are versatile tools for analysis, maskless local material modification, and rapid prototyping of microelectronic components. His first FIB device was used in the semiconductor industry to correct photomasks with focused gallium ions. Currently, FIB instruments can use different types of ions.
An important application is the preparation of samples for high-resolution, nanometer-accurate imaging in electron microscopy. FIB techniques are also used in the life sciences, for example, to analyze and image microorganisms and viruses with FIB-based tomography, providing deep insight into their microscopic structures and their functions.
FIB instruments are constantly evolving toward new capabilities such as spatially resolved generation of single atomic defects at other energies, heavier ions, and perfect crystals. His FIB processing of such materials and components has great potential in quantum and information technology. Its range of applications is completely unique, from basic research to completed devices, physics, materials science, chemistry to life sciences and even archaeology.
“We hope that this roadmap will stimulate scientific and technological breakthroughs and act as an incubator for future developments,” said Gregor Hlavacek.
For more information:
Katja Höflich et al., Roadmap for Focused Ion Beam Technology, applied physics reviews (2023). DOI: 10.1063/5.0162597
Magazine information:
applied physics reviews
