Effective removal of Ga residue from focused ion beam using a plasma cleaner

Samples prepared using the focused ion beam (FIB) inevitably contain the surface damage induced by energetic Ga+ ions. An effective method of removing the surface damage is demonstrated using a plasma cleaner, a device which is widely used to minimize the surface contamination in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). Surface bombardment with low-energy Ar+ ions was induced by biasing the sample immersed in the plasma source, so as to etch off the surface materials. The etch rates of SiO2, measured with a bias voltage of 100–300 V, were found to vary linearly with both the time and bias and were able to be controlled from 1.4 to 9 nm/min. The removal of the Ga residue was confirmed using energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) after the plasma processing of the FIB-prepared sample. When the FIB-prepared sample was processed via plasma etching for 10 min with a bias of 150 V, the surface Ga damage was completely removed.