Dual-beam FIB/SEM with multi-species plasma ion column (plasma-FIB/SEM)

• Subject Area: Materials Science
• Term: Funded in 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 537236610

Sample characterization, micro-preparation and nanostructuring using ion and electron beams play a crucial role for the broad research at the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Siegen. Respective research fields are materials and device research, the nano-sciences, the development of optical/(bio)medical sensors as well as chemistry, physics, and biology. This multifunctional dual-beam FIB/SEM with multi-species plasma ion column, equipped for a wide range of applications, is, together with a complementary equipped Ga-ion FIB/SEM, essential part of the long-term research and major instrumentation strategy of the University of Siegen and it’s DFG-funded Micro- and Nanoanalytics Core Facility (MNaF). The instrument is specialized for cryo and in situ applications and is thus made attractive and accessible for external research groups. It will not only make common analyses of highly complex samples and coarse-grained materials from the μm-scale to the macro-scale available to a broad user community but also enables challenging and adventurous research on highly reactive and sensitive samples like batteries and organic materials. Therefore, specialized instrumentation for systematic sample cooling and vacuum/inert-gas transfers is included. The tool will be located in the new Interdisciplinary Research Building for Nanoanalytics, Nanochemistry and Cyber-physical Sensor Technologies INCYTE. The research center pools the jointly utilized experimental resources of the entire university on 11,000 m2 of space and provides highly qualified lab space to consolidate the whole MNaF, an ISO4 cleanroom, and S1/S2 laboratories in proximity to each other. The instrument is equipped with versatile ion optics (Xe, Ar, O, N), a high-resolution monochromatized electron column, a comprehensive detector portfolio including ultra-fast EBSD and large-angle EDXS detectors, a robust nanomanipulator, a plasma cleaner, and charge neutralization for a wide range of preparation and tomography tasks. Comprehensive automation supports multi-user operation at the MNaF, simplifies handling for method novices, and ensures daytime working hours for supervision-intensive preparation and analysis tasks. Complementary to micro CT, the main applications of this instrument are 2D/3D microstructure/composition/crystal structure analyses by (cryo)SEM/EDXS/EBSD, the site-specific preparation of high-quality cross-sectional samples of entire devices and coarse-grained (heterogeneous) materials for TEM, as well as in the extraction of NanoCT samples. The cryo functionality enables studies of highly reactive/sensitive materials and devices in energy/polymer research as well as biology. The load lock allows for the integration of the instrument in the comprehensive cryo/vacuum transfer routines at the MNaF and allows for seamless exchange of samples with a large variety of complementary preparation and characterization instruments in INCYTE.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Zweistrahlrasterelektronenmikroskop mit Multispezies-Plasma-Ionensäule (Plasma-FIB/REM)
• Instrumentation Group: 5120 Rasterelektronenmikroskope (REM)
• Applicant Institution: Universität Siegen
• Leader: Professor Dr. Benjamin Butz