The Focused Ion Beam or FIB is an instrument which focuses and scans an accelerated ion beam on a sample in a vacuum chamber. Such a column can be used for two main purposes:
The most commercially available FIB systems are using gallium (Ga) ions for micromachining of the surfaces.
During the last 25 years, FIB instrumentation has become a key technology for wide fields of materials science applications, from circuit editing to Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) sample preparation, microstructural analysis and prototype nanomachining. Associated with a SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope), FIB instruments have become a powerful tool for nano-manipulation and nano-fabrication when coupled with micromanipulators. Equipped with a Gas Injection System (GIS) nanometric local deposition (using the GIS) can even be obtained.
Another application of FIB is to realize a cross section, to look at the structure and the chemistry of the sub-surface in a more simple way than with TEM. When the dimensions of the considered layers / structures are convenient, SEM can already provide great informations.