What is FIBLYS?

FIBLYS (or FIB anaLYSis) is a project to design and build united nano-structuring, nano-manipulation, nano-analytic and nano-vision capabilities in one unique ‘multi-nano’ tool.

The core of the tool is composed of Focused Ion Beam (FIB) and electron beam in a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) combined with a nano-manipulator with Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) capabilities. This core itself is of great nano-vision capability since it is a combination of two microscopes: SEM enables fast, real-time imaging while SPM goes to atomic resolution.

A nano-structuring and surface modification capability is obtained via FIB extended by ExB mass-filtered column to allow Au-ion deposition in addition to the standard Ga-ion milling. Deposition of gold clusters to create 3D nano-patterns is of great use in diverse applications in photonics, plasmonics and life-sciences.

Nano-manipulation add-ons use either SPM facility or specially designed end-effectors.

The core is further improved by analytical capabilities combined in a modular system, such as Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometer (EDX), Electron Back-Scatter Diffraction (EBSD), Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (TOFMS), nano - Electron Beam Induced Current (EBIC) or nano - Cathodoluminescence (CL) capabilities.

A variety of techniques will also allow a 3D tomography approach based on sequential FIB slicing followed by analysis e.g. by EBSD, CL, EBIC and others and subsequent data-processing to create 3D objects with analytical information.

Further, the analytical use of SPM in the FIB(SEM) will allow to exploit tip-sample interactions like potential, electrostatic or magnetic force imaging and to probe with nano-scale resolution many electron-matter interactions like EBIC, CL, phonons, or backscattered electrons directly at the surface with cantilever based sensors, and to use the electron beam and related detectors to induce, detect and measure cantilever movements. A closed-loop vision-control of cantilever and sample position via real-time SEM image processing will allow one to perform new types of nano-manipulation experiments.

To summarize, FIBLYS will enable the user to prepare new structures by FIB milling or deposition, to view results either by real-time SEM or by SPM with atomic resolution, to analyze samples by EDX, EBSD, TOF, EBIC or CL, and to perform nanomanipulation. The user is benefited from
(i) the option to add or subtract material at the nano-scale, while
(ii) viewing the processes, that provides for
(iii) the option to get structural and analytical information at the nano-scale and this
(iv) sequentially (3D tomography) on 3D surfaces.