Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
540063 Microelectronic Engineering 2007 4 Pages PDF
Abstract

Focused ion beam (FIB) systems are one of the most important pieces of equipment in nanoscale machining, and can etch material and deposit 3-D nanoscale structures with high aspect ratios. However, despite considerable research effort, a definitive method for evaluating the reliability of FIB systems had not been developed. In this paper, we propose a reliability assessment method that utilizes fabricated nanopatterns. Since the characteristics of a FIB system are included in the nanopatterns, these can be used to assess its reliability. We suggest items and nanopatterns that can be applied to the reliability assessment tests. To determine the suitability of the proposed method, we fabricated several nanopatterns using different FIB systems and measured them under a scanning electron microscope to compare the actual and designed dimensions. The results showed that the proposed method is suitable for assessing the reliability of FIB systems.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Computer Science Hardware and Architecture
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