Material interface detection based on secondary electron images for focused ion beam machining.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Surface Science

Background:

• Multilayered structures are crucial for advanced nanodevices.
• Machining multilayers with focused ion beam (FIB) presents significant challenges.
• Precise control is needed for fabricating nanostructures on these materials.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an effective interface detection method for FIB processes on multilayered targets.
• To enable precise fabrication of nanostructures without prior thickness information.
• To demonstrate the applicability of the method on complex and curved surfaces.

Main Methods:

• Monitoring secondary electron (SE) images during FIB machining.
• Analyzing SE image gray-level average and skewness coefficient for endpoint detection.
• Implementing real-time FIB process control based on image analysis.

Main Results:

• Successfully fabricated nanostructures on multilayered targets without needing thickness data.
• Demonstrated precise groove and aperture fabrication using the developed FIB process control.
• Validated the method's effectiveness on curved surfaces and complex substrates.

Conclusions:

• The proposed SE image-based interface detection offers precise control for FIB processes.
• This method facilitates the fabrication of nanodevices on challenging multilayered and complex substrates.
• The strategy is adaptable for curved or flexible targets, expanding FIB applications.