Dual-beam focused ion beam (FIB): A prototyping tool for micro and nanofabrication

Focused ion beam (FIB) is a powerful and versatile tool for the maskless fabrication of structures and devices in the micro and nanometre scales. This can be performed by the milling and deposition capabilities of a focused ion beam, the latter being achieved by the ion beam-assisted decomposition of a metalorganic gas precursor of the specific material that has to be deposited. The combination of the FIB and a SEM in the same machine, giving rise to the so-called dual-beam or cross-beam machines, further expands the capabilities of the technique by the possibility of performing electron-beam assisted deposition and inspection, which is less harmful than using the ion beam. In this work three examples of the various capabilities of dual-beam systems for the fabrication of prototypes of different types of devices will be presented. The devices fabricated are a microinductor made in copper, the fine trimming of silicon mechanical resonators and the fabrication of nanocontacts to nanowires for the extraction of electrical parameters and for the fabrication of gas sensors from them.