The FIT4NANO project has mapped out the expansive applications and future directions of focused ion beam technology, emphasizing its critical role in advancing research and development across multiple disciplines, from microelectronics to life sciences.
Processing materials on the nanoscale, producing prototypes for microelectronics, or analyzing biological samples: The range of applications for finely focused ion beams is huge. Experts from the EU collaboration FIT4NANO have now reviewed the many options and developed a roadmap for the future. The article, published in Applied Physics Review, is aimed at students, users from industry and science as well as research policymakers.
Discovery and Applications
“We realized that focused ion beams can be used in many different ways, and we thought we had a good overview at the start of the project. But then we discovered that there are many more applications than we thought. In many publications, the use of focused ion beams is not even explicitly mentioned, but is hidden in the methods section. It was detective work,” says Dr. Katja Höflich, physicist at the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), who coordinated the comprehensive report.
“In particular, we found work from the 1960s and 1970s that was ahead of its time and unjustly forgotten. Even today, they still provide important insights.”
The report provides an overview of the current state of focused ion beam (FIB) technology, its applications with many examples, the most important equipment developments, and future prospects. “We wanted to provide a reference work that is useful for academic research and industrial R&D departments, but also helps research management to find their way in this field,” says Dr. Gregor Hlawacek, group leader at the Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). Hlawacek leads the FIT4NANO project, an EU project on FIB technologies, in which the authors of the report are involved.
FIB Technology: A Versatile Tool
FIB instruments use a focused ion beam of typically two to 30 kiloelectronvolts (keV). With its small diameter in the nanometer and sub-nanometer range, such an ion beam scans the sample and can change its surface with nanometer precision. FIB instruments are a universal tool for analysis, maskless local material modification, and rapid prototyping of microelectronic components. The first FIB instruments were used in the semiconductor industry to correct photomasks with focused gallium ions.
Today, FIB instruments are available with many different types of ions. An important application is the preparation of samples for high-resolution, nanometer-precision imaging in the electron microscope. FIB methods have also been used in the life sciences, for example, to analyze and image micro-organisms and viruses with FIB-based tomography, providing deep insights into microscopic structures and their function.
Evolving Applications and Future Prospects
FIB instruments are constantly evolving towards other energies, heavier ions, and new capabilities, such as the spatially resolved generation of single atomic defects in otherwise perfect crystals. Such FIB processing of materials and components has enormous potential in quantum and information technology. The range of applications, from fundamental research to the finished device, from physics, materials science, and chemistry to life sciences and even archaeology, is absolutely unique.
“We hope that this roadmap will inspire scientific and technological breakthroughs and act as an incubator for future developments,” says Gregor Hlawacek.
Reference: “Roadmap for focused ion beam technologies” by Katja Höflich, Gerhard Hobler, Frances I. Allen, Tom Wirtz, Gemma Rius, Lisa McElwee-White, Arkady V. Krasheninnikov, Matthias Schmidt, Ivo Utke, Nico Klingner, Markus Osenberg, Rosa Córdoba, Flyura Djurabekova, Ingo Manke, Philip Moll, Mariachiara Manoccio, José María De Teresa, Lothar Bischoff, Johann Michler, Olivier De Castro, Anne Delobbe, Peter Dunne, Oleksandr V. Dobrovolskiy, Natalie Frese, Armin Gölzhäuser, Paul Mazarov, Dieter Koelle, Wolfhard Möller, Francesc Pérez-Murano, Patrick Philipp, Florian Vollnhals and Gregor Hlawacek, 26 December 2023, Applied Physics Reviews.
DOI: 10.1063/5.0162597
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2 Comments
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I Hello’ It is hard to be brief and give you enough to convince you.
In order to understand the universe “which I do Understand” You must know of some unknown facts about how the earth works along with the universe If you do not know this you cannot accept or understand the universe.
The earth has a way that it captures/takes images of people , animals, objects, and events and then the images it takes will be laid back down on surfaces, rocks, Mountains FOR A GOOD REASON.
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Skipping lots of information>
Ever since the world was populated the earth has captured these images for good reason and they flow out into the universe landing on surfaces of all planets like they do on earth For a reason.
To understand the universe, you must know this happens and accept it and You must be able to let go of preconceived ideas and theories.
With all the telescopes watching the universe they have gotten very far away from actually studying the universe and now looking for the prettiest shapes and blobs .
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There is something that needs to be cleared up.
Many years ago, the astronomers could not explain why they were seeing many earthly images out in the universe, and they felt they needed to explain them away so that people would not bother them about the images so, they came up with the Pareidolia Definition which is dead wrong but was very effective in getting people to not bring up the images anymore because they would be laughed at or shunned .
Goi
ven that fact understanding the universe came to a halt because much like today you must keep on until you understand something, so it brought the understanding of the universe to a halt, and it is still keeping NASA from understanding the universe.
I can show you many images and images that NASA believes to be a spiraling Galaxy which it is not, and it is much smaller than NASA believes it to be. I can show you that Most everything Astronomers believe is very misunderstood.
Trust me please, I can rock all the world . You are my only hope since everyone is so stubborn to listen, I have plenty pictures to prove what i am saying that no one can deny.
If I had a place near me to invite the who's who of the world, I could convince them if it is in person.
They must know the things about the earth involvement in order to understand and believe in me.
Hope i can post a few examples on this page. {EARL LOVELL} On Facebook but I am sure the page is not done well enough to please you. Facebook gives me a very hard time. I am Retired to Jackson Tn. 38301 .Can Rock your world and do not ignore me there is no bigger news.
Earl Lovell on Facebook — I need to get my discovery out to the world. Too many people seem to be afraid to learn the truth OR they want to be the ones that make the discoveries. I need a platform and all the right people attending to learn from me. And I could use people helping me run the show.
I’m up in age and I would rather have an event her in Jackson Tn. where I can teach people what i know and have discovered. New knowledge of how the earth works with the universe and other planets . knowledge of how to get images from in the universe of life from earth.
then tehre is just too much to mention….