Plasma-FIB-Microscope

• Subject Area: Materials Engineering
• Term: Funded in 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 464555300

The proposed high-resolution scanning electron microscope (SEM) is equipped with both, an electron gun in combination with a state of the art ion-beam gun (focussed ion beam, FIB) for nano- and micro-scale milling of structures. Instead of a Gallium source, an innovative xenon plasma source is used for ultra-fast and contamination free material removal. In addition to several detectors for ultra-high-resolution imaging of secondary electrons, back scattered electrons and ions (resolution 1 nm), the Xe plasma-FIB-SEM is equipped with an EDX and an EBSD system for spatially resolved chemical analyses and crystallographic orientation. The Xe-ion beam gives the option to remove material in slices, which enables to use the imaging and analyses techniques three dimensionally on the nano-meter scale up to several 100 µm. The system can efficiently be used for the preparation of thin lamellae specimens for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) or tips on the nanometer scale for 3D-atomprobe tomography. As this atomically resolving techniques are increasingly used in the profile area Materials Science and Engineering (MatSE) at RWTH Aachen University, the requested device will be from central significance in this area.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Plasma-FIB-Mikroskop
• Instrumentation Group: 5120 Rasterelektronenmikroskope (REM)
• Applicant Institution: Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen
• Leader: Professor Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Krupp