Precise nanofabrication with multiple ion beams for advanced circuit edit

Gallium focused ion beam (Ga-FIB) systems have been used historically in the semiconductor industry for circuit edit. Significant efforts have been invested to improve the performance of Ga-FIB. However, as the dimensions of integrated circuits continue to shrink, Ga-FIB induced processes are being driven to their physical limits. A helium ion beam offers high spatial resolution imaging as well as precise ion machining and sub-10 nm nanofabrication capabilities because the probe size can be brought to as small as 0.25 nm. However, it is limited by its relatively low material removal rate. Recently, the new Zeiss Orion-NanoFab microscope provides multiple ion beams (He, Ne and Ga as an option) into one platform and promotes the further studies of He and Ne induced deposition and etching processes to compare with a Ga ion beam. Because of the mass difference between He, Ne and Ga ions, the interactions of ions with sample surface and precursor molecules result in different sputtering rates, implantation and deposition yields. This presentation gives an overview of our current studies using this new platform to deposit or mill nanostructures for circuit edit.