Tescan, Czech Republic, reports that its Solaris X FIB-SEM equipped with an iFIB+ Xe plasma FIB column delivers the high currents needed to speed material removal for large cross-sections, and its rocking stage allows continuous monitoring.
Cross-sections milled by Ga FIB are typically on the order of several tens of microns width and depth. However, for structures such as displays, TSVs, MEMS, BGAs, or flip-chips, which may require extra-large cross-sections for failure analysis, a plasma ion column is the preferred solution for milling. Tescan Solaris X FIB-SEM equipped with iFIB+ Xe plasma FIB column delivers the high currents needed to speed material removal for large cross-sections.
To overcome drawbacks, Tescan Solaris X offers the Rocking Stage, a novel method that greatly improves surface quality, while maintaining simplicity and accuracy throughout the milling process. The Rocking Stage allows users to take advantage of Solaris X’s wide field of view and SEM imaging for monitoring the milling process and accurate endpointing.
Eucentric sample stages allow tilting only around the axis perpendicular to both the FIB and SEM columns. The main problem to this approach is the inability to perform SEM imaging during the FIB milling process, in cases where the sample requires milling from different directions to reduce the curtaining effect. Without the ability to implement SEM imaging during the polishing process, polishing becomes time consuming, challenging and less accurate. It requires pausing the polishing process and then changing the stage position to check the cross-section quality from time to time. It is difficult to stop milling when the desired point/structure is reached, and also minimize the curtaining artifacts.
However, Tescan’s novel Rocking Stage solves the problem by adding tilting in the plane of the cross-section. This method, shown in the diagram, allows monitoring the entire milling and tilting process with SEM imaging, which is essential for precise end-point detection.
