Physicist Gregor Hlawacek, head of the EU FIT4NANO project, is in charge of a state-of-the-art facility at HZDR where he can produce and analyze nanostructures using a precisely focused ion beam. Credit: Oliver Killig/HZDR
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Physicist Gregor Hlawacek, head of the EU FIT4NANO project, is in charge of a state-of-the-art facility at HZDR where he can produce and analyze nanostructures using a precisely focused ion beam. Credit: Oliver Killig/HZDR
Manipulating materials at the nanoscale, producing prototypes for microelectronics, or analyzing biological samples: the range of applications for precisely focused ion beams is enormous. Experts from the EU collaboration FIT4NANO have now reviewed the numerous options and drawn up a roadmap for the future.
The article was published in Applied Physics Reviewsis aimed at students and users from industry and science as well as research policy makers.
“We realized that focused ion beams could be used in many different ways, and we thought we had a good overview at the beginning of the project. But then we discovered that there were many more applications than we thought. In many publications, Physics at the Ferdinand Braun and Helholtz-Zentrum Institute Berlin (HZB), which coordinated the comprehensive report: “Focused ion beams are not explicitly mentioned, but are hidden in the methods section.”
“It was detective work. In particular, we found works from the 1960s and 1970s that were ahead of their time and had been unjustly forgotten. Even today, these works still provide important insights.”
The report provides an overview of the current status of focused ion beam (FIB) technology, its applications with many examples, the most important equipment developments and future prospects.
“We wanted to provide a reference work that is useful for academic research and industrial R&D departments, but also helps research management find its way in this field,” says Dr. Gregor Hlawacek, group leader at the Institute for Ion Beam Physics and Materials. Research at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). Hlawacek leads FIT4NANO, an EU project on FIB technologies, in which the report's authors are involved.
From basic research to the final component
FIB instruments use a focused ion beam typically ranging from 2 to 30 kiloelectronvolts (keV). Thanks to its small diameter in the nanometer and sub-nanometer range, this ion beam scans the sample and can change its surface with nanometer precision. FIB Tools is a universal tool for maskless local analysis and modification of materials and rapid prototyping of microelectronic components. The first FIB instruments were used in the semiconductor industry to patch photomasks using focused gallium ions. Today, FIB instruments are available with many different ion types.
One important application is to prepare samples for high-resolution, nanometer-resolution imaging in electron microscopy. FIB methods have also been used in life sciences, for example to analyze and image microorganisms and viruses using FIB-based tomography, providing deep insights into microscopic structures and their function.
FIB instruments are constantly evolving toward other energies, heavier ions and new capabilities, such as generating spatially resolved single atomic defects in perfect crystals. FIB processing of materials and components has huge potential in quantum and information technology. The range of applications, from basic research to final devices, from physics, materials science and chemistry to life sciences and even archaeology, is quite unique.
“We hope that this roadmap will inspire scientific and technological breakthroughs and serve as an incubator for future developments,” says Gregor Hlawacek.
more information:
Katja Hoeflich et al., Roadmap for Focused Ion Beam Technologies, Applied Physics Reviews (2023). doi: 10.1063/5.0162597
Magazine information:
Applied Physics Reviews
