Design and measurement of nanopatterns for FIB reliability assessments

Abstract

Focused ion beam (FIB) systems are one of the most important pieces of equipment in nanoscale machining, and can etch material and deposit 3-D nanoscale structures with high aspect ratios. However, despite considerable research effort, a definitive method for evaluating the reliability of FIB systems had not been developed. In this paper, we propose a reliability assessment method that utilizes fabricated nanopatterns. Since the characteristics of a FIB system are included in the nanopatterns, these can be used to assess its reliability. We suggest items and nanopatterns that can be applied to the reliability assessment tests. To determine the suitability of the proposed method, we fabricated several nanopatterns using different FIB systems and measured them under a scanning electron microscope to compare the actual and designed dimensions. The results showed that the proposed method is suitable for assessing the reliability of FIB systems. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.