Integrated Plasma Source Focused Ion Beam with Scanning Electron Microscope

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This proposal seeks to establish a state-of-the-art plasma FIB at Surrey - only the second such instrument in the UK. The system will enable the removal of material in a controlled manner at the nanometre scale. This will enable the manufacture of nanostructures for a wide range of uses, from quantum devices to microscopic mechanical test pieces. The PFIB is equipped with scanning electron microscopy so that as material is removed in a controlled manner so a three dimensional image of the eroded area can be built up. This is tomography on the microscopic scale and enables one to image sub-surface features such as inclusions in a metal alloy, interpenetration of layers in a microelectronics device or corrosion around a second phase particle in a metal. Nanomachining is the other activity that a PFIB will perform well with samples of well defined geometry and/or thickness being produced with lengths varying from tens of nanometres (thickness of an electron transparent specimen) through to just under a millimetere. Once manufactured such specimens can be examined by transmission electron microscopy or a surface analysis technique such as secondary ion mass spectrometry. Thus this equipment bid will provide a new capability with far reaching impact across several themes and many sub-themes of the EPSRC portfolio significantly enhancing existing research both in Surrey and in collaborators across the UK as well as opening up new research possibilities. There are few single instruments currently available that can be applied to so many areas of scientific and engineering research. Materials research, one of the eight great technologies and a current government priority, is by far the most obvious benefactor but the manufacturing capability of the instrument will be applied to other nationally important areas such as experimental physics and metrology. This instrument will be very significant, its versatility and high efficiency has the potential to accelerate impact across many of these themes maintaining the United Kingdom's role as a leading science nation.