Subramaniam Srinivas, Huening Jennifer, Richards John, Johnson Kevin
Intel Corporation,2501 NW 229th Avenue,Hillsboro,OR 97124,USA.
Microsc Microanal. 2017 Aug;23(4):769-781. doi: 10.1017/S1431927617000563. Epub 2017 Jun 5.
The xenon plasma focused ion beam instrument (PFIB), holds significant promise in expanding the applications of focused ion beams in new technology thrust areas. In this paper, we have explored the operational characteristics of a Tescan FERA3 XMH PFIB instrument with the aim of meeting current and future challenges in the semiconductor industry. A two part approach, with the first part aimed at optimizing the ion column and the second optimizing specimen preparation, has been undertaken. Detailed studies characterizing the ion column, optimizing for high-current/high mill rate activities, have been described to support a better understanding of the PFIB. In addition, a novel single-crystal sacrificial mask method has been developed and implemented for use in the PFIB. Using this combined approach, we have achieved high-quality images with minimal artifacts, while retaining the shorter throughput times of the PFIB. Although the work presented in this paper has been performed on a specific instrument, the authors hope that these studies will provide general insight to direct further improvement of PFIB design and applications.
氙等离子体聚焦离子束仪器（PFIB）在拓展聚焦离子束在新技术重点领域的应用方面具有巨大潜力。在本文中，我们探索了泰思肯FERA3 XMH PFIB仪器的运行特性，旨在应对半导体行业当前和未来的挑战。我们采用了两部分方法，第一部分旨在优化离子柱，第二部分旨在优化样品制备。已经进行了详细的研究来表征离子柱，并针对高电流/高研磨速率活动进行优化，以支持对PFIB有更好的理解。此外，还开发并实施了一种新颖的单晶牺牲掩膜方法用于PFIB。通过这种综合方法，我们获得了高质量图像，伪像最少，同时保留了PFIB较短的处理时间。尽管本文所展示的工作是在特定仪器上进行的，但作者希望这些研究能提供一般性见解，以指导PFIB设计和应用的进一步改进。
