Ex situ lift-out specimen thinning

Ar ion milling of specimens on carbon support grids

The method of initially preparing specimens in the focused ion beam (FIB) and subsequently extracting the specimen outside the FIB and placing them on carbon support grids is called the ex situ lift-out (EXLO) technique. This technique increases throughput, which makes it a prevalent technique in the semiconductor industry. 

The carbon support on the EXLO specimen is problematic if the specimen needs to be further thinned once it is on the grid. To maintain the specimen’s integrity and to obtain high-quality specimens free from FIB damage, controlled specimen thinning of EXLO specimens on carbon support grids is achieved by post-FIB concentrated Ar ion beam milling using Fischione Instruments’ Model 1080 PicoMill^® TEM specimen preparation system. The PicoMill system’s integrated electron column and detectors allow for in situ imaging while ion milling to track both specimen and carbon support.

Learn more

• Narrow-beam argon ion milling of ex situ lift-out FIB specimens mounted on various carbon support grids. (2018). In ISTFA 2018: Proceedings from the 44th International Symposium for Testing and Failure Analysis (pp. 339–344). ASM International.
• High throughput and multiple length scale sample preparation for characterization and failure analysis of advanced semiconductor devices. (2019). In ISTFA 2019: Proceedings of the 45th International Symposium for Testing and Failure Analysis (pp. 295–301). ASM International.
• Giannuzzi, L. A., Yu, Z., Yin, D., Harmer, M. P., Xu, Q., Smith, N. S., Chan, L., Hiller, J., Hess, D., & Clark, T. (2015). Theory and new applications of ex situ lift out. Microscopy and Microanalysis, 21(4), 1034–1048.
• Webinar: Precise final thinning of FIB-prepared specimens.

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