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In Situ Thickness Assessment During Ion Milling of a Free-Standing Membrane Using Transmission Helium Ion Microscopy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2013

Adam R. Hall
Adam R. Hall*
Affiliation:
Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, Department of Nanoscience, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27401, USA
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: adam.hall@uncg.edu
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Abstract

We describe a novel method for in situ measurement of the local thickness of a freely suspended solid-state membrane after thinning with a focused helium ion beam. The technique utilizes a custom stage for the helium ion microscope that allows the secondary electron detector used for normal imaging to collect information from ions transmitted through the sample. We find that relative brightness in the transmission image scales directly with the membrane thickness as determined by atomic force microscopy measurements.

Keywords

helium ion microscopeion millingsilicon nitride membranethinningtransmission imagingSTIM
Type
Equipment and Techniques Development: Materials
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , June 2013 , pp. 740 - 744
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2013 

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