This X-ray map is of a 3 layer, FIB milled pattern in a 3 layer metal stack (Au, W and Al). Our Xmas holiday is from 20th Dec to 6th Jan. As 2024 draws to a close, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a relaxing break. For 2025 we hope that your Nano-structures are well formed, your FAB processes well qualified, that your designs are ‘right-first-time’ and failure-free, your packaging and PCBs are reliable and your joints well soldered. If you have trouble with any of these, then we look forward to working with you next year. How did we create a 3D X-ray map? Step 1 – was to FIB deposit 0.5um of Tungsten onto an Aluminium (Al) bond pad on a standard Silicon IC. This was followed by 0.25um of Plasma Gold (Au). Step 2 – was to FIB mill 2 modified images into these layers. The first to etch through the Gold to reveal the Tungsten, the second to mill through the Tunsgten to expose the Aluminium bond pad. Step 3 – was to capture a SEM backscattered image to confirm the 3 different materials were properly exposed. The contrast is caused by the z difference in the materials. Step 4 – was to map the Gold that remains on the surface of the sample, and the Tungsten and the Aluminium that have been exposed by the FIB milling. Step 5 – was to combine the 3 maps in the appropriate colours. Image 1 is a FIB-SE image of the final 3 level structure. Image 2 is a FEG SEM backscattered electron image...
Closure times – NanoScope is closed from 20th December 2023 to the 5th January 2024 Our big company NEWS is that we are now ISO 9001:2015 Certified In our bid to improve our services on all fronts, we are very proud to have achieved ISO 9001 certification at the end of 2023 – more details to follow. We have already implemented our Quality Management System so you may spot these changes when you use us next. Our NEW microscope this year is a Sonoscan D24 Acoustic Microscope (large area CSAM). this state-of-the-art CSAM is already providing pre- and post- JEDEC Reliability checks for stress testing batches of devices (inc MSL testing) its providing checks for voids in complex planar sandwiches of materials – like polymers and metals it is also used as a Failure Analysis diagnostic tool for on-board packaging as a compliment to our X-ray capability. Our New Technique this year is our Plasma FIB Capability. We can offer ThermoFisher Hydra capabilities to our customers now including Xe for rapid milling of large sections – up to 100’s of μm in size/depth Ar for low kV polishing of (S)TEM sections and FEG SEM for high resolution imaging and Analysis in-situ. Lastly our new Sample Preparation Technique is Mechanical Grinding and Polishing. As boards and modules get smaller and more complex, the boundary between substrate and die requires more advanced investigation, so the need for accurate mechanical sectioning as a starting point for any structural analysis becomes increasingly important. Good Mechanical prep is more often the starting point for a Plasma or Gallium FIB section. (Section of a Section...
Apparently the only two things that you should never try are folk music and incest, so blogging must surely be in the other column. Well here goes…. I’m a first generation pure FIB technologist – in that my first microscope was a Focussed Ion Beam instrument and I only learned how to use an SEM and other techniques later on. The immediacy and interactive nano-surgery capabilities of the technology, captured my interest on day one, and I’m as hooked now as I was then. Since 1992 I have been lucky enough to work for Rutherford Appleton, FEI Company (twice)- now Thermo, Micrion Corporation (now FEI), Raith GmbH and now NanoScope Services. I’ve helped develop many of the main aspects of how this technology is employed – from writing the first published FEI TEM sample prep protocol, and developing new sample holders for the 611 and FIB 800, through 3D gun-shot residue and forensic analysis and AFM tip customisation, and leading the applications initiative for using Cryo-DualBeam within the Life-Sciences. The latest major project was developing and rolling out an entirely new FIB technique for truly automated 3D nano-fabrication using ultra fine Ga+ beams now called IBL or Ion Beam Lithography for Raith GmbH. I have become co-author on over 100 publications for this application alone. ( I don’t have time to write papers myself). FIB is cool, and everyday we get to do cool new stuff for scientists and engineers from across the Nanotech spectrum. From Circuit Edit to Solid State Nanopores and frozen Fibroblast sectioning, from VCSELs and OLED’s to GSR and FZP’s, FIB is enabling us to explore...
Our latest newsletter covers: CSAM and X-Ray microscopy for non-destructive analysis Focus on TEM services and (S)TEM sample preparation NanoScope Services 2nd birthday, including a unique poster competition! download it here – Enewsletter Winter...
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