Roadmap for focused ion beam technologies

TL;DR

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of focused ion beam (FIB) technologies, covering instrumentation, theory, techniques, and applications across multiple scientific disciplines, and discusses future development pathways.

Contribution

It offers a detailed roadmap highlighting current FIB capabilities, research interests, and future directions for ion source development and emerging applications.

Findings

Diverse FIB types are now available for various scientific fields.

Future pathways include ion source innovation and expanded applications.

The complex ion-solid interactions are key to advancing FIB technology.

Abstract

The focused ion beam (FIB) is a powerful tool for the fabrication, modification and characterization of materials down to the nanoscale. Starting with the gallium FIB, which was originally intended for photomask repair in the semiconductor industry, there are now many different types of FIB that are commercially available. These instruments use a range of ion species and are applied broadly in materials science, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, and even archaeology. The goal of this roadmap is to provide an overview of FIB instrumentation, theory, techniques and applications. By viewing FIB developments through the lens of the various research communities, we aim to identify future pathways for ion source and instrumentation development as well as emerging applications, and the scope for improved understanding of the complex interplay of ion-solid interactions. We intend to provide a guide for all scientists in the field that identifies common research interests and will support future fruitful interactions connecting tool development, experiment and theory. While a comprehensive overview of the field is sought, it is not possible to cover all research related to FIB technologies in detail. We give examples of specific projects within the broader context, referencing original works and previous review articles throughout.