Freeman D., Luther-Davies B., Madden S.
Australian National University, AU
Keywords: drift correction, focused ion beam, nanofabrication, photonic crystals
We are working towards the fabrication of large periodic optical structures known as photonic crystals. A focused ion beam (FIB) is used to mill holes, which must be smooth and repeatable, with nm positional accuracy. We are developing custom pattern generation software for this purpose.
FIB systems suffer from slow systematic drift over long milling times, and we have developed a real-time drift correction scheme which mills a series of reference marks and then periodically FIB images them to detect and compensate for the apparent motion of the specimen under the beam.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 3, Technical Proceedings of the 2006 NSTI Nanotechnology Conference and Trade Show, Volume 3
Published: May 7, 2006
Pages: 241 - 242
Industry sector: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing
Topic: Advanced Manufacturing
ISBN: 0-9767985-8-1