The invention relates to a method for ablating a material (1) from a material unit (502) and for arranging the material (1) on an object (125), the object (125) being arranged in a particle beam apparatus. Further, the invention relates to a computer program product, and to a particle beam apparatus for carrying out the method. The method comprises feeding a particle beam with charged particles onto the material (1), wherein the material (1) is arranged on the material unit (502) and/or wherein the material unit (502) is formed from the material (1), wherein the material (1) is ablatable from the material unit (502) and wherein the material (1) is arranged on the material unit (502) at a distance from the object (125).

Further, the method comprises ablating the ablatable material (1) arranged on the material unit (502) from the material unit (502) using the particle beam, and arranging the ablated material (514) on the object (125).

A method, system, and computer-readable medium for forming transmission electron microscopy sample lamellae using a focused ion beam including directing a high energy focused ion beam toward a bulk volume of material; milling away the unwanted volume of material to produce an unfinished sample lamella with one or more exposed faces having a damage layer; characterizing the removal rate of the focused ion beam; subsequent to characterizing the removal rate, directing a low energy focused ion beam toward the unfinished sample lamella for a predetermined milling time to deliver a specified dose of ions per area from the low energy focused ion beam; and milling the unfinished sample lamella with the low energy focused ion beam to remove at least a portion of the damage layer to produce the finished sample lamella including at least a portion of the feature of interest.

A method of evaluating a region of a sample that includes alternating layers of different material. The method includes milling, with a focused ion beam, a portion of the sample that includes the alternating layers of different material; reducing the milling area; and repeating the milling and reducing steps multiple times during the delayering process until the process is complete.

The present application discloses a method for preparing a TEM sample, including the following steps: step 1: providing a thin-film pre-sample with undesirable voids; step 2: performing a first cutting with a first FIB to form the TEM sample located in the target region of the thin-film pre-sample. The first thickness is reached after the first cutting. The voids are exposed from the front surface or the back surface of the TEM sample after the first cutting; step 3: depositing a first material layer by an ALD process to fill the voids in the TEM sample; step 4: performing the second cutting with a second FIB to form the target thickness of the TEM sample in the target region of the thin-film pre-sample. The present application can reduce or eliminate ion beam cutting marks related to the voids in the thin-film pre-sample.

Described are various embodiments of an ion beam delayering system and method, and endpoint monitoring system and method. One embodiment includes a method for monitoring an ion beam de-layering process for an unknown heterogeneously layered sample, the method comprising: grounding the sample to allow an electrical current to flow from the sample, at least in part, as a result of the ion beam de-layering process; milling a currently exposed layer of the sample using the ion beam, resulting in a given measurable electrical current to flow from the sample as said currently exposed layer is milled, wherein said given measurable electrical current is indicative of an exposed surface material composition of said currently exposed layer; detecting a measurable change in said measureable electrical current during said milling as representative of a corresponding exposed surface material composition change; and associating said measurable change with a newly exposed layer of the sample.

The dual focused ion beam and scanning electron beam system includes an electron source that generates an electron beam and an ion source that generates an ion beam. The electron beam column directs an electron beam at a normal angle relative to a top surface of the stage. An ion beam column directs the ion beam at the stage. The ion beam is at an angle relative to the electron beam. A detector receives the electron beam reflected from the wafer on the stage.

A focused ion beam system has a differentially-pumped vacuum unit and a focused ion beam column, comprising: a vacuum pad, of a porous material, with a suction surface exposed in a way that surrounds the outer edge of a substrate to be processed; a substrate support on which the substrate and vacuum pad are placed, and a vacuum pump for vacuum evacuation using the vacuum pad. The system provides an arrangement in which, while a head of the differentially-pumped vacuum unit partially falls out of the outer edge of the substrate, the suction surface allows an input of air evacuated from a region between the suction surface and the head, and the processing area on a substrate is expanded by allowing the processing with an ion beam to be performed even in the vicinity of the peripheral substrate surface without requiring a large vacuum chamber.

A gas feed device is operated, including displaying a functional parameter of the gas feed device. A gas feed device may carry out the operation, and a particle beam apparatus may include the gas feed device. A method may include predetermining and/or measuring a current temperature of a precursor reservoir of the gas feed device using a temperature measuring unit, where the precursor reservoir contains a precursor to be fed onto an object, loading a flow rate of the precursor through an outlet of the precursor reservoir from a database into a control unit, said flow rate being associated with the current temperature of the precursor reservoir, and (i) displaying the flow rate on the display unit and/or (ii) determining the functional parameter of the precursor reservoir depending on the flow rate using the control unit and informing a user of the gas feed device about the determined functional parameter.

An integrated circuit package includes a first conductive element that is fabricated as part of the integrated circuit package and a micro-wire having a first end coupled to the first conductive element. The micro-wire has been fabricated ex-situ and is of a metal having a diameter of 10 microns or less.

Described are various embodiments of an ion beam delayering system and method, topographically enhanced sample produced thereby, and imaging methods and systems related thereto. In one embodiment, a method comprises: identifying at least two materials in an exposed surface of the sample and predetermined operational characteristics of an ion beam mill that correspond with a substantially different ion beam mill removal rate for at least one of the materials; operating the ion beam mill in accordance with the predetermined operational characteristics to simultaneously remove the materials and introduce or enhance a topography associated with the materials and surface features defined thereby; acquiring surface data; and repeating the operating and acquiring steps for at least one more layer.