Acquisition of a Dual Beam FIB/SEM Instrument

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With support from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF) Program, the Department of Chemistry at Georgia Institute of Technology will acquire a dual beam focused ion beam/scanning electron microscope (FIB/SEM). This equipment will enhance research in a number of areas including a) multifunctional scanning nanoprobes and quantum cascade laser based sensing systems; b) stimulated surface chemistry using metal-insulator-metal (MIM) devices containing nano-scale field emission arrays; c) optically gated single molecule transistors; d) shape-preserving chemical conversion of 3-D bioclastic structures; e) nanobelts as nanobiosensors and nanocantilevers; and f) impedance mapping atomic force microscopy (AFM) cantilever arrays. The fundamental operating principle of the focused ion beam (FIB) systems is comparable to scanning electron microscopes (SEM). However, instead of an electron beam (e-beam), a finely focused beam of ions with a diameter as small as 5 nm is focused on the sample surface. Operating the primary ion beam at low beam currents allows imaging of the sample; at high beam currents, sputtering or milling occurs. E-beam lithography allows nanofabrication with higher lateral resolution, whereas ion beam enables short processing time, high throughput, and a broader range (micrometer to nanometer). This dual beam instrument allows for both e-beam and ion beam capabilities. This instrument will be the only dual beam FIB/SEM system available in the state of Georgia.