I am doing some FIB cuts and analyzing my layer stack. I always see dots in the InP and InGaAsP layers, but I don't know their origin. These dots do not appear when I do a SEM of a cleaved sample, so I assume the origin is related with the Ion beam process. I attached a picture of a SEM image after an FIB to make clear which dots I am referring to. Any help or reference to solve this question is highly appreciated!
Focused ion beam (FIB) deposition produces unwanted serious particle contamination beyond the deposition points. Also, the FIB milling induces damage layers and probably additional redeposition layers.
These articles might help to get an idea:
Effect of focused ion beam deposition induced contamination on the transport properties of nano devices.
DOI: 10.1088/0957-4484/26/5/055705
Study of FIB milling induced damage and contamination on ex-situ lift-out TEM specimen and methodology to reduce the artifacts.
DOI: 10.1109/IPFA.2013.6599190
The observed dots are due to material damage by the ion beam. I would recommend to use a lower power of the ion beam during the final stage of preparation.
- Badges
- Science method
- Similar topics
- Mathematics
- Statistics
- Statistical Techniques
- Structural Equation Modeling