The irradiation effects of thinning a sample of a Cu-Zn-Al shape memory alloy to electron transparency by a Ga(+) focused ion beam were investigated. This thinning method was compared with conventional electropolishing and Ar(+) ion milling. No implanted Ga was detected but surface FCC precipitation was found as a result of the focused ion beam sample preparation. Decreasing the irradiation dos...

This research demonstrates the capability of controlled, focused ion beam (FIB)–assisted tailoring of morphologies in both multiwall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and Y junction nonlinear CNT systems through defect engineering. We have shown that a 30 keV FIB Ga ion beam at low ion milling currents of 1 pA can be used to partially reduce the CNT diameter, to provide electrical conduction bottleneck m...

The fabrication of an extended three-dimensional nanostructure with dimensions much larger than the feature size using a focused ion beam is described. By milling two identical patterns of pores with a designed diameter of 460 nm in orthogonal directions, a photonic crystal with an inverse woodpile structure was made in a gallium phosphide single crystal. The patterns are aligned with an unprec...

We present experimental and simulation results for focused ion beam (FIB) milling of microchannels in lithium niobate in this paper. We investigate two different cuts of lithium niobate, Y- and Z-cuts, and observe that the experimental material removal rate in the FIB for both Y-cut and Z-cut samples was 0.3 μm(3)/nC, roughly two times greater than the material removal rate previously reported ...

The focused ion beam (FIB)/scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a scanning microscope with an electron column and an ion column embedded in the same specimen chamber; both beams are aiming at the same point on the specimen surface. The FIB, generated by a Ga Liquid Metal Ion Source (LMIS), impacts the sample normal to the surface and can be focused to a spot as small as few nanometres. The FIB...

Gas-mediated electron beam induced etching (EBIE) is a nanoscale, direct-write technique analogous to gas-assisted focused ion beam (FIB) milling. The main advantage of EBIE is the elimination of sputtering and ion implantation during processing as well as greater material selectivity [1]. Here we discuss recent developments that expand the scope of EBIE applications in nanofabrication and defe...

We report a new method for the fabrication of sub-10 nm nanopores in a fast single process step. The pore formation is accomplished by exploiting the competition between sputtering and deposition in ion-beam-induced deposition (IBID) on a thin membrane. The pore diameter can be controlled by adjusting the ion beam and gas exposure conditions. The pore diameter is well below the limit that can b...

The introduction of Xenon (Xe) plasma focused ion beam (PFIB) columns in scanning single and dual beam tools are a significant step forward in the development of ion beam instrumentation for scientific and technological exploration. PFIB’s provide significant improvements in ion beam operating currents with as much as 20 times the beam current of conventional Gallium (Ga) Liquid Metal Ion sourc...

Hybrid materials were prepared by mixing commercial polymers with micrometric metal powders. The polymer matrix used was low density polyethylene (LDPE). We have used aluminum spheres with the average diameter of 1 μm. The particle concentration in the matrix was varied from 0.5 wt.% to 10 wt.%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to investigate the particle dispersion on the surfaces o...