Focused Ion Beam (FIB) milling provides significant advantages as a single-step, nanoscale prototyping method that doesn’t require a mask or resist. It is capable of performing: subtractive lithography in which atoms are locally milled away by physical sputtering with sub-10nm resolution; additive lithography in which materials are locally deposited with sub-10nm resolution; local ion implantation for fabrication of an etching mask for subsequent pattern transfer; and direct material modification by ion-induced mixing.

FIB milling is a versatile technique with a wide range of applications including advanced materials development/characterisation; resist-free, high-resolution patterning of nanostructures; cross-sectional analysis of samples; sample preparation for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and for atom probe analysis.