High speed micro-fabrication using inductively coupled plasma ion source based focused ion beam system

•High milling rates of ICP-FIB on materials like Si, Al, Au, Cu, Ta, Mo and WC are investigated.•Milling rate of >600 μm3/s on Cu, >700 μm3/s on Au, >250 μm3/s on WC and Si are measured.•Two orders of higher speed for milling by ICP-FIB as compared to that of LMIS-FIB is demonstrated.•This system is capable of milling millions of μm3 of various materials in short time.•Feasibility of ICP-FIB for high speed synthesis of nanopores with tunable pore size is discussed.

A compact inductively coupled plasma ion source based focused ion beam system (ICP-FIB), capable of producing intense FIB of gaseous elements is developed. Ar and Xe ion beams of 20–4700 nA are focused to spot sizes in the range of 2–30 μm. Experiments using Ar and Xe ion beams of a few microamperes showed milling speeds that are 25–150 times higher than that of a conventional FIB. Milling of micro-apertures in less than 100 s through 100 μm thick Ta and Mo foils and in less than 10 s through 12 μm gold and 25 μm aluminum foils is demonstrated. In this article, the potential of ICP-FIB in high speed milling of micro apertures and large scale micro patterns are presented. Also the possibility of high speed synthesis of nano-pores with tunable pore sizes is discussed.