FIB-pinpointed preparation of TEM samples by a needle based manipulator (lift-out) technique

The Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) increasingly is used to characterise the structure and morphology of microelectronic devices whose lateral dimensions steadily are diminishing. The required preparation mainly is done by the Focused Ion Beam (FIB) technology making use of its time efficient operation and well defined positioning abilities. The FIB-preparation, when applied as a needle based micromanipulator method, is called Lift-Out technique. The Lift-Out technique allows to refrain from performing any conventional preparation steps prior to the FIB preparation and because it restricts the ion beam processing additionally to a strongly minimised volume around the sample, the method reduces the preparation time significantly. Beside microelectronical applications the FIB Lift-Out technique can be applied beneficially for the pinpointed preparation on badly accessible samples as e.g. tooth materials, big steel samples, fracture surfaces of pronounced topography, hollow fibres etc.