software_data.txt

Software Manual
SmartFIB
Application Software
for Crossbeam Workstations
2
ZEISS SmartFIB
Application Software for Crossbeam Workstations
Original instructions
Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH
Carl-Zeiss-Promenade 10
07745 Jena
Germany
[email protected]
www.zeiss.com/microscopy
Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH
Carl-Zeiss-Straße 22
73447 Oberkochen
Germany
Document name: ZEISS SmartFIB Software Manual
Revision: en01
Effective from: Februars 2015
 Oberkochen 2015 by Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH - all rights reserved
This document or any part of it must not be translated, reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, or by any information or retrieval system. Violations will be prosecuted.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this document does not imply, even in the absence of a specific
statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Software programs will
fully remain the property of ZEISS. No program, documentation, or subsequent upgrade thereof may be disclosed to any third party, unless prior
written consent of ZEISS has been procured to do so, nor may be copied or otherwise duplicated, even for the customer's internal needs apart from
a single back-up copy for safety purposes.
ZEISS reserves the right to make modifications to this document without notice.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 5
1 Glossary 11
2 About this Document 21
2.1 Introduction 21
2.2 Conventions Used in this Document 22
2.3 Safety Instructions in this Document 22
2.4 Related Documents 23
3 About SmartFIB 27
3.1 Important Terms 27
3.2 SmartFIB Program Suite 28
3.3 Operating Modes 30
3.4 Exposure Parameters 31
3.4.1 Hierarchy of Exposure Parameter Assignment 31
3.4.2 Conversion Factors of Units 32
3.5 SmartFIB File Formats 33
4 User Interface 37
4.1 Tools Toolbar 38
4.2 Working Area 41
4.2.1 Context Menus 42
4.3 Menu Bar 42
4.3.1 File Menu 43
4.3.2 Edit Menu 43
4.3.3 View Menu 44
4.3.4 Sample Menu 45
4.3.4.1 Sample Settings 46
4.3.4.2 Sample Adjustment 47
4.3.4.3 Sample Focus Plane 49
4.3.5 Image Menu 50
4.3.6 Settings Menu 50
4.3.6.1 Preferences 51
4.3.7 Help Menu 55
4.4 Standard Toolbar 55
4.5 Control Panel 58
4.5.1 Import 60
4.5.2 Process List 61
4.5.3 Attributes (Live Mode) 64
4.5.3.1 Recipe 66
4.5.3.2 Drift Correction 87
4.5.3.3 Common 90
Table of Contents
6 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
4.5.3.4 Element Type 92
4.5.4 Settings (Sample Mode) 129
4.5.5 Move 130
4.5.6 Clipping 132
4.5.7 Offset 134
4.5.8 Image Capture 134
4.5.9 Stage 138
4.5.10 Exposure 140
4.6 Status Bar 143
5 Working with the Software 147
5.1 General Assumptions 147
5.2 General Operation 147
5.2.1 Performing a Basic Exposure/Milling process 148
5.2.1.1 Acquiring an Image 148
5.2.1.2 Creating Shapes/Elements to be Exposed/Milled 149
5.2.1.3 Setting the Exposure/Milling Parameters 150
5.2.1.4 Using a Drift Correction 151
5.2.1.5 Starting the Exposure/Milling Process 152
5.2.2 Performing a Multi-Site Exposure/Milling Workflow 153
5.3 Working in Live Mode 154
5.3.1 Acquiring an Image 154
5.3.2 Creating Shapes/Elements to be Exposed/Milled 155
5.3.3 Importing Layouts 156
5.3.4 Saving Images and Layouts 156
5.3.5 Using the Edge Tool 157
5.3.6 Using the Image Tool 158
5.3.7 Using the Select-by-ID Feature 158
5.3.8 Transferring Layouts to Sample Mode 159
5.4 Working in Sample Mode 159
5.4.1 Performing a Sample Adjustment 160
5.4.2 Using the Process List 161
5.5 Task-Oriented Workflows 162
5.5.1 Creating a Simple Cross Section 162
5.5.2 Creating a Cross Section 164
5.5.3 Creating a TEM Lamella 165
5.5.4 Obtaining Serial Section Images 168
5.5.5 Creating a Text 170
5.6 Working with the Gas Injection System 170
5.6.1 Gas-Assisted Deposition 170
5.6.1.1 Performing Gas Assisted Deposition 171
5.6.2 Gas-Assisted Etching 172
5.6.2.1 Performing Gas Assisted Etching 174
5.6.3 Electron Beam Deposition 175
5.6.3.1 Performing Electron Beam Deposition 175
Table of Contents
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 7
5.7 Working with Recipes 176
5.7.1 Using Existing Recipes 176
5.7.2 Creating/Editing Recipes 176
5.7.3 Creating a Recipe with Exclusive Function 177
Index 181
Table of Contents
8 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
1 Glossary
1. Glossary
10 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
1 Glossary
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 11
1 Glossary
Term Description
Active layer The editable and insertable layer in SmartFIB.
Adjustment points After loading the specimen to the microscope, the absolute position and the angle
between specimen system and stage system are undefined. An Adjustment
procedure makes it possible to find out the coordinate transformation from the
specimen-system to the stage-system, which allows you to navigate on your
specimen by means of specimen coordinate (using for instance the virtual specimen).
For this process some points with well known coordinates in the specimen system
are needed, they are called adjustment points. Of course the accuracy of the
adjustment cannot be better than the accuracy of the used stage. In fact there are a
lot of variations for choosing the points and the specimen adjustment tool is aimed
at attaining as much information as possible of your chosen set of adjustment points
and avoiding overdetermination.
Alignment accuracy The alignment accuracy indicates the variation between the actual position and the
target position. This procedure is referred to as Alignment process. Approaching the
target by means of correcting the beam deflection (digital shift and rotation)
according to the mismatch between actual and target position can achieve an
accuracy of less than some ten nanometers.
Alignment marks For the execution of an Alignment process one needs to take an image which
exhibits some structure characteristics with well known coordinates. This can be
either specially structured adjusting aids or some distinctive features of the already
patterned structures, both are referred to as Alignment marks (or simply marks) here
in general.
Alignment process It is a common challenge for a lithography task to place new elements in the correct
positional arrangement with respect to some already existing structures on a sample.
eLitho offers a capable method to execute the positioning procedure which is
referred to as Alignment process. The basic steps of an Alignment process and also a
lot of additional information concerning this matter can be found in the section:
Alignment settings tab. In many cases a single-step Alignment process is sufficient to
achieve the required alignment accuracy. In some cases however when a very high
accuracy is claimed there is the necessity to execute more than one cycle of the
procedure. eLitho allows you to set up these multi-step Alignment processes clearly
and gives you the opportunity to configure the procedure adequately for nearly every
alignment task occurring. Please do not mix up the Alignment process described here
with the sample adjustment, which is used to determine the position and the
orientation of the sample system according to the stage system.
Area dose The area dose is defined as electric charge per area in micro-Coulomb per square-
centimeter: Beside its general meaning as a dose value for exposure (see: Exposure
tab) the area dose is also relevant for the image capture during an Alignment process
(see: Capture area tab) ). Image capture causes some undesirable background dose
within the capture area. Hence it is necessary to incorporate this area dose for the
following exposure process. On the one hand the overall background dose must not
exceed a certain critical value. For resist processes the capture area ought to be not
dissolved by the developer and for beam induced processes the deposition or
removal of material should be minimized. The area dose rises with the resolution for
a fixed Pixel time.
Area element Rectangles, circles, ellipses, arcs, and polygons are normally drawn as (filled) area
elements. They are scanned as laminar elements and therefore they are treated with
the Area settings made in the eLitho Exposure settings tab.
Backlash The backlash feature is a common method to compensate the mechanical tolerance
of a mechanical drive gear. The sample stage on a SEM for example implements this
feature by always approaching the end point of the stage movement from the same
direction of motion. This means that for motion in the opposite direction the stage
exceeds the aimed target position by a certain distance (the backlash) and finally
approaches the position by moving back with the intended direction of motion.
Beam Blanker In order to avoid unintended exposure during standby times and beam settling times,
which are necessary after large jumps (e.g. delay between elements, see: Exposure
tab) it is recommended that the SEM is equipped with a fast electrostatic Beam
Blanker. This devices create an electric field in the microscope column for dumping
the beam somewhere in the column. The advantage of an electrostatic blanker with
respect to an electromagnetic one is that the beam can be switched on and off very
fast.
Cycles The cycles determine an amount of identical iterations to achieve the required dose.
Prevention of redeposition (deposits of etch/mill waste) during milling or layer-by-
layer deposition.
Dose The dose determines the cumulative intensity (depth or deposition height) within a
patterning element.
Dose value The term dose is of crucial meaning for the lithography-process. It is defined as
charge per dimension unit and describes in principle the ammount of electrons (or
ions) that are hitting the surface of the sample in normalized values. For example
when writing area elements applying an positive resist process, the amount of
lectrons needed for breaking up enough chemical bonds of the resist in the exposed
area to make the resist solvable for the devolopper is given as an area dose in units
of charge per area [µC/cm²]. The dose value in this definition does neither take the
energy of the electrons into account nor does it include their temporal distributiion.
The relevant dose values for an adequate exposure is depending on many
parameters, e.g. the resist or the substrate. But of the the most decisive influence for
resist processes (at least for some substrates) originates from the Proximity effect,
which causes a non-uniform dose-background within the range of some micrometers
around exposed regions. Due to the different dimesionality eLitho differntiates
between pixel dose, line dose and area dose .
Dwell time The dwell time describes how long the charged particle beam remains at one point
of the scanning area. The scanning mode, the dose and the spacing influence the
dwell time.
Element An element represents the lowest level in the hierarchy of a layout. An element can
be a single point, a single line, a poly-line, a filled or outlined rectangle, a filled or
outlined circle, a filled or outlined ellipse, a filled or outlined arc or a filled or outlined
polygon. Each element is assigned to exactly one layer.
Exposure Process during which patterning elements are being transferred to the specimen by
interaction with the charged particle beam.
Exposure parameters To be able to fulfill various process requirements, the exposure parameters describe
the temporal and regional sequence of the exposure process.
Exposure parameters are settings for controlling the exposure of an entity and
comprise settings including doses, dwell times, pixel spacings, and microscope
probes. Entity in this context may refer to: graphical elements (lines, rectangles,
raster images, etc.), layers (also the implicit live mode layer), or positions.
Faraday cup A Faraday cup is a special device for precisely measuring the specimen beam current .
The electron beam is dumped into a sink for electrons (cup), which means that as
many electrons as possible from the incident primary electron beam are collected
thereby producing as little as possible secondary electrons. Thus a measurement of
the current from the Faraday cup to the electrical ground reflects the actual beam
current which would expose the specimen under similar conditions. The exact
knowledge of the specimen beam current is necessary to precisely determine the
dwell time for the beam in order to achieve a given dose value.
Focus plane This plane matches the unintentional tilt of the sample. It is calculated from several
positions where the focus is adjusted correctly (see: Setup of a focus plane). A least
mean square fit is used to do this. So, whenever eLitho moves the stage and a focus
plane is set up, the focus will be updated according to the focus plane. If you want
to use this tool when navigating the stage by means of the Stage tab in the control
panel, the Focus tracking feauture must be activated.
GIS The Gas Injection System (GIS) is used to support etching processes chemically (by
injecting reactive gases) or to provide material for beam induced deposition (by
injecting precursor gases).
Image mode Working with eLitho covers two different operational modes: the image mode and
the sample mode. In image mode some of the menu entries and tools are adapted to
the work with the capturing and administration of images. The main difference with
respect to sample mode is however, that the working area is used for displaying the
images instead of the virtual sample and the structure-assembly.
Layer A layer is an abstract definition of a collection of certain properties which can be
attributed in the Designer to the elements by assigning the elements to the layer
(see: Layer Attributes and Layer Manager ). All the elements of a structuremare that
are assinged to the same layer constitute a writing position. The employment of
layers is often used to distinguish the different process steps of a sample. This can be
on the one hand just a different size of the scanning area and on hte other hand it
can be a totally different patterning process (e.g. etching or deposition of material).
In some cases it may be also useful to assign the certain elements to a writing
position to a seperate layer because they should not be written at all and are used
only to assist the design process or for administrative purposes (e.g. id- numbers or
background images). Designer offers sophisticated possibilities to display the layers in
different coulors, so that it is obvious to recognize to which layers the respective
elements are assigned to.
Layout Geometric arrangement of patterning elements (e.g. in arrays or other functional
units) within scanning areas grouped in process steps and process parameters. This
arrangement can be saved in CAD format. Various foreign formats are supported in
addition to the native *.ely format.
Layout files A Layout-files is the computer file in which a layout is saved. There is a broad variety
of different file formats which are used in the field of lithography. Very common files
are GDS, GDSII, CIF and DXF or even bitmaps (BMP, TIFF, ...). Although eDraw eLitho
are able to support all this mentioned formats, nanonic offers a native file format for
layouts which is called eLayout-file. The file extension of the eProcessing-files is *.epr.
This format supports hierarchical multi-layer multi structure layouts. Even more it is
able to handle lithography specific information such as scanning area dose factors
and scanning methods.
Line dose Line elements are exposed as a chain of single pixels along the direction of a line.
Therefore this "one dimensional" elements are also called "single pixel line". The line
dose specifies the electric charge per length unit in pico-Coulomb per centimeter:.
Mask layer For alignment processes it is necessary to capture images from the region of interest
in order to find characteristic orientation features. Capturing a "normal" image will
expose the complete image area to the electron beam. eLitho offers a versatile way
to avoid unintentional exposure of especially critical regions within the image frame.
This is achieved by allowing to subdivide the image area in regions where the beam
is switched on and regions where the beam is switched off during the image
capture. The different regions are determined by combining a writing position
designed with edraw that contains rectangle elements exclusively with the image
frame (see: Alignment tab). Thus the beam is switched on only inside the rectangles
and will be blaked outside this areas during the image capture process. The writing
positions that are used to screen out certain reagions of the capturing area are called
Mask layer.
Milling Milling stands for the local removal of surface material by means of the focused ion
beam. For instance, you can mill cross sections which allows you to get a 2D view
into the specimen. Milling is done by processing individual milling objects. The milling
object defines the area to be scanned by the focused ion beam. Milling objects are
geometrical patterns such as line, rectangle, and trapezoid. Moverover, several
milling parameters such as milling mode, milling current, width, and height
characterize a milling object.
Orientation grid In the working area as well as in the drawing area it is necessary to position
geometrical objects. In order to support this process eLitho and eDraw are offering
an adjustable backgrond grid. This grid can be used on the one hand just as a means
of orientation or on the other hand when it is switched to "magnetic" it discretizes
the positioning area in steps of the grid pacing. See: eLitho Standard toolbar eDraw
Standard toolbar.
Patterning element Geometric object that shall be transferred to the specimen by means of particle
beam processes.
Pixel time Every object that is scanned during the lithography process is composed of discrete
single pixels. Thus the signal is integrated for every pixel of an image and the
elements that are patterned are also composed of discrete pixels. In case of
patterning the dwell time (in combination with the spacing of the pixels) determines
the dose that is achieved by the exposure. Speaking of the Pixel-time therefore is not
only sensible for a point element but also for every scanned object.
Pixel dose For Point elements the Dose: is just the electric charge per point in femto-Coulomb
Preview The Preview window displays resulting exposure parameters (mixture of entered and
calculated) for the current selection. the purpose of this window is to give an
overview of current parameter groups and to see if there are any discrepancies.
While setting any exposure parameters, the Preview window can remain open. This
provides immediate feedback for the selected parameters. This function is especially
useful when creating new recipes (one can see immediately, why something is not
working).
Proximity effect Mainly the secondary electrons are resposnible for the exposure i.e. the cracking of
the polymere chains of the resist in an lithography process. Those secondary
electrons do not only leave the sample surface exactly at the spot where the incident
primary electron beam hits the surface but also a large distance from that spot away.
In general the distribution of the secondary electrons leads to a core region around
every scanned point (some ten nanometers) where the dose is rather high and a very
extensive region where some kind of background dose is deposited. Because of this
rather wide ranging (several microns) background exposure the dose at a certain
point is also determined by the number of pixels that are exposed in a wider
proximity of the very pixel. This effect leads to a nonlocal dependency of the dose
within a pattern and can cause massive influence on the resulting dose distribution.
This so called Proximity effect often makes it difficult to determine the necessary dose
ditribution for complex geometric structures. There are computer programs which
can assist the user with this process by simulating the exposure process and
calculating the necessary dose distribution using iterative algorithms. In some cases
however the Proximity effect effect makes it impossible to expose a geometric
structure.
Quick navigation For large layouts it is not always easy to navigate in the working area or the drawing
area when working at an adequate zoom level. To assist the user in such situations
eLitho and eDraw offer the quick navigation tool in the bottom right corner of the
respective area on the GUI. Clicking at this symbol opens a small overview window in
which you can navigate the displayed area in the working area or the drawing area
by means of the mouse by shifitng the non shaded area in the navigation window.
The size of the non shaded area is automatically adjusted to the actual zoom level.
Sample mode Working with eLitho covers two different operational modes: the sample mode and
the image mode. In sample mode some of the menu entries and tools are adapted to
the work with the structure-assembly on the virtual sample and the administration of
layouts and lithography parameters. The main difference in comparison to image
mode is however, that the working area is used for displaying the virtual sample
instead of the images.
Sample system The sample system is the coordinate system which is used to describe the positions
of writing position in native corrdinates of the ideal system of the virtual sample. The
unit used in the sample system is micrometers (µm).
Scanning area The scanning area describes a quadratic field. The beam can be deflected inside of
this field during the writing process or the image capture procedure. The scanning
area is defined either in eDraw (individually for each layer) or in eLitho for image
capturing (see: Image Capture). It can be shifted and rotated with respect to the
standard scan-system of the microscope. The scanning area determines the
magnification which is chosen at the microscope. The exact value of the chosen
magnification depends on the microscope and if so of the settings of the alignment
process.
Scanning mode The scanning mode determines the fill pattern during the exposure process.
Spacing Spacing determines the step size along the scanning path.
2.1 Introduction
Welcome to the Software Manual of SmartFIB.
Content This Software Manual contains descriptions of control elements and instructions
about how to perform basic operation sequences.
The Software Manual contains the following chapters:
Chapter Content
About this Document Explains function and structure of this Software
Manual
About the Software Describes the concept behind SmartFIB
Description of the
Software
Summarizes a detailed software description
Working with the
Software
Explains basic operation sequences.
Conversion Factors of
Units
Summarizes formulas for calculating conversion
factors of units
Glossary Alphabetical list of important technical terms
This Software Manual is part of the SmartFIB software. Read the instructions
carefully.
This Software Manual is designed for operators who have been trained to operate
the microscope by a Zeiss service representative. Basic operator training and safety
instructions will be provided within the scope of initial start up by ZEISS. Operators
of the microscope must not deviate from the instructions provided in this Software
Manual.
2 About this Document | 2.2 Conventions Used in this Document
22 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
About this Document |
2.2 Conventions Used in this Document
The following conventions are used in this Software Manual:
Convention Meaning
 Click Start
 Push the STANDBY button
 Press Enter on the keyboard
The name of a control element is
written in bold letters.
Press <Ctrl+Alt+Del> Press multiple buttons on the
keyboard at the same time.
Select Tools > Goto Control Panel >
Airlock
Follow a path in the software.
Input text
Output text
The font Courier highlights
 text to be entered by the user
 text that is displayed by the
system
see Conventions in this Manual Link to further information
About this Document |
2.3 Safety Instructions in this Document
The safety instructions in this Software Manual follow a system of risk levels that
are defined as follows:
 NOTICE indicates a property damage message.
 NOTICE Besides the NOTICE above, an embedded NOTICE also
indicates a property damage message.
Example:
NOTICE
Risk of property damage
If the specimen stage is at a short working distance, microscope or specimen
could be damaged when opening the chamber door.
u Always move the specimen stage to a long working distance before
opening the chamber door.
2 About this Document | 2.4 Related Documents
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 23
NOTICE Fingerprints can lead to vacuum deterioration and prolonged
pumping times. Always wear lint-free gloves when touching specimen,
sample holder or stage.
Tips Tips are indicated as follows:
TIP
A TIP indicates useful additional information. Tips can help you to make your
daily work easier, but they are all optional. There is no risk for health or property
involved.
About this Document |
2.4 Related Documents
Instruction Manual For detailed information on working with the HIM-FIB refer to the respective
instruction manual.
Product Specification For details on technical data refer HIM-FIB Product Specification.
2 About this Document | 2.4 Related Documents
24 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
3 About SmartFIB
3. About SmartFIB
26 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
3 About SmartFIB | 3.1 Important Terms
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 27
3 About SmartFIB
About SmartFIB |
3.1 Important Terms
The following terms are used in SmartFIB. Understanding these terms gives you a
better understanding of the SmartFIB software.
Term Description
Cycles When milling the cycles determine the number of identical iterations to achieve
the required dose. Larger numbers of cycles reduce redeposition.
Dose The dose represents the cumulated charge per area unit of a patterning
element.
Dwell time The dwell time describes how long the charged particle beam remains at one
point of the scanning area for each scanned pixel in one passage..
Exposure Process during which patterning elements are being transferred to the specimen
by interaction with the charged particle beam.
Exposure parameters To be able to fulfill various process requirements, the exposure parameters
describe the temporal and regional sequence of the exposure process.
Exposure parameters are settings for controlling the exposure of an entity and
comprise settings including doses, dwell times, pixel spacings, microscope
probes, cycles, GIS settings, precision settings.
These parameters combined determine the milling depth or deposition height,
and their quality.
Entity in this context may refer to: graphical elements (lines, rectangles, raster
images, etc.), layers (also the implicit live mode layer), or positions.
GIS The Gas Injection System (GIS) is used to support etching processes chemically
(by injecting reactive gases) or to provide material for beam-induced deposition
(by injecting precursor gases).
Layout Geometric arrangement of patterning elements (e.g. in arrays or other
functional units) within scanning areas grouped in process steps and process
parameters. This arrangement can be saved in CAD format. Various foreign
formats are supported in addition to the native *.ely format.
Patterning element Geometric object that shall be transferred to the specimen by means of particle
beam processes.
Pixel Spacing/ Track Spacing Spacing determines the step size along the scanning path.
3 About SmartFIB | 3.2 SmartFIB Program Suite
28 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
Term Description
Preview The Preview window displays the exposure parameters previously entered,
along with the remaining parameters calculated from them for the current
selection. In particular, the Preview window resolves parameters by considering
parameters of different entities. The purpose of this window is to give an
overview of current parameter groups and to see if there are any discrepancies.
While setting any exposure parameter, the Preview window can remain open.
This provides immediate feedback for the selected parameters. This function is
especially useful when creating new recipes (e.g. you can see immediately, why
a parameter combination is not valid).
Scanning area The scanning area describes a quadratic field. The beam can be deflected inside
of this field during the writing process or the image capture procedure. It can
be shifted and rotated with respect to the standard scan-system of the
microscope. The scanning area determines the magnification which is chosen at
the microscope. The exact value of the chosen magnification depends on the
microscope and if so of the settings of the alignment process.
Scanning mode The scanning mode determines the fill pattern during the exposure process.
About SmartFIB |
3.2 SmartFIB Program Suite
The main purpose of the SmartFIB program suite is to transfer geometric elements
to a specimen with the help of a particle beam. This process is referred to as
"Exposure".
SmartFIBprogram suite consists of two main programs: SmartFIB itself and
Designer.
Each of these programs has a different field of use. The following bullet points give
you an overview of typical applications.
SmartFIB
 Main tool for online/live work on the microscope.
 Milling/etching/deposition of patterning elements.
 Provides Sample Mode (mainly used for recurring/automated workflows) and
Live Mode (mainly used for circuit editing and creating recipes).
Designer (requires the licence CREATOR):
 Offline creation of layouts (arrangement of elements in the scanning area).
 Interaction with Sample Mode (used as a drawing tool for Sample Mode).
3 About SmartFIB | 3.2 SmartFIB Program Suite
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 29
An exposure session contains all the necessary information such as various process
parameters and a layout. Subsequently, the exposure starts and the process can be
monitored and documented.
You can create layouts in the Designer and/or in Live Mode based on a
microscope image.
Layouts can be created hierarchically from multiple layers. During the creation of
the layouts, different stage positions and scanning area sizes can already be taken
into consideration. Process-specific attributes can be assigned to the layout such as
scanning strategy, drift correction and exposure parameters. These attributes can
either be assigned on element level to whole layers or to whole positions.
Attributes and hierarchy levels of a layout can be saved conveniently and thus
enable easy reusability. By creating your own toolbox, this allows you to accelerate
recurring workflows.
Sample Mode allows you to arrange the created layouts on a graphical
representation of a specimen. You can use this arrangement for navigating the real
specimen during the exposure and during process validation.
You can arrange scanning areas on the specimen either based on coordinates in
Sample Mode or by retrieving regions of interest on microscope images acquired
in Live Mode.
The geometrical elements comprise standard shapes, such as circles, rectangles and
polygons, as well as predefined elements created for specific tasks. This includes
elements for cross sections and TEM lamellas. The attributes of these elements are
already customized for specific tasks. This allows you to completely perform tasks
with a small amount of parameters.
The microscope controls are fully integrated into all workflows such as creating
layouts, as well as during the exposure process.
Especially on CrossBeam systems, this allows you to carry out complex processes
combining the imaging capabilities of the microscope and the patterning
functionalities of SmartFIB.
3 About SmartFIB | 3.3 Operating Modes
30 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
About SmartFIB |
3.3 Operating Modes
Live Mode
 Limited to one scanning area
 The background image obtained with the charged particle beam serves as
orientation
Mainly used for
 Circuit editing or creating recipes
 Target preparation at a Point Of Interest (POI) / Region Of Interest (ROI) (e.g.
TEM-lamella preparation at a specific point of the specimen)
 Analysis of one specific point of the specimen
Sample Mode
 Allows you to process multiple scanning areas e.g. of different size and to
position them on the specimen
 The focus is on the layout-oriented approach
Mainly used for
 Recurring/automated workflows
 Combination of different structuring processes: If the specimen has been
modified before, there is also information given (e.g. Lithography)
 CAD layout navigation
 Documentation of processes and specimens (which steps were carried out?
Repeatability)
Simulation of complex processes also possible in offline mode
3 About SmartFIB | 3.4 Exposure Parameters
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 31
About SmartFIB |
3.4 Exposure Parameters
3.4.1 Hierarchy of Exposure Parameter Assignment
Exposure parameters are settings for controlling the exposure of an entity and
comprise settings including doses, dwell times, pixel spacings, and microscope
probes. Entity in this context may refer to:
 graphical elements (lines, circles, polygons, etc.),
 layers (also the implicit live mode layer), or
 positions (in Sample Mode).
In order to specify exposure parameters for a given entity, the respective entity
must be selected by the user. Graphical elements (Designer and SmartFIB Live
Mode only) are selected using the mouse. Positions (SmartFIB only) are selected
using the mouse or by selecting the respective entry in the Process List tab. Layers
(Designer and SmartFIB Live Mode) are implicitly selected via the empty selection by
clicking an empty region. Exposure parameters of graphical elements and layers are
specified in the Exposure Parameters tab located in the Attributes tab (Designer
and SmartFIB Live Mode) or the Exposure Parameters tab in the Settings tab
(SmartFIB Sample Mode). Exposure parameter sets are always complete, i.e. it is not
possible for an entity to partially use a set of exposure parameters. It is, however,
possible for an entity to inherit exposure parameters which means that exposure
parameters required for the actual exposure of an entity can be defined either
directly via explicit specification or indirectly via inheritance.
Exposure parameters are resolved by applying the following rules:
1 If a position specifies exposure parameters then every graphical element in the
position uses these exposure parameters.
2 If a graphical element specifies exposure parameters and the associated
position does not then the graphical elements exposure parameters are used.
3 If neither the position nor the graphical element specifies exposure parameters
then the exposure parameters of the graphical elements layer are used.
3 About SmartFIB | 3.4 Exposure Parameters
32 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
3.4.2 Conversion Factors of Units
The following equations can be used to calculate parameters for exposure
processes.
Equation Description
The area dose is defined as electric charge
per area in micro-Coulomb per square-
centimeter. Beside its general meaning as
a dose value for exposure (see: Exposure
tab) the area dose is also relevant for the
image capture during an Alignment
process (see: Capture area tab) ). Image
capture causes some undesirable
background dose within the capture area.
Hence it is necessary to incorporate this
area dose for the following exposure
process. On the one hand the overall
background dose must not exceed a
certain critical value. For resist processes
the capture area ought to be not disolved
by the developer and for beam induced
processes the deposition or removal of
material should be minimized. The area
dose rises with the resolution for a fixed
Pixel time.
Line elements are exposed as a chain of
single pixels along the direction of a line.
Therefore these "one dimensional"
elements are also called "single pixel line".
The line dose specifies the electric charge
per length unit in pico-Coulomb per
centimeter.
For point elements, the dose is just the
electric charge per point in femto-
Coulomb
3 About SmartFIB | 3.5 SmartFIB File Formats
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 33
About SmartFIB |
3.5 SmartFIB File Formats
SmartFIB uses a variety of file formats for different fields of use.
Some of these formats are only available in Designer, Live Mode or Sample Mode
.
File Format Ending Description Designer Sample
Mode
Live
Mode
Exposure
Parameters
*.epm Format for saving exposure
parameters and recipes.
x x x
e Layout *.ely Layout exchange format between
Designer and SmartFIB. Geometric
data is saved in this format.
x Import only x
Auto Sample
Preparation
*.esp Data obtained with Auto Sample
Preparation are saved in this
format (cross sections and
lamellas).
x
e Processing *epr Format for saving processes
(positions arranged on the virtual
sample).
x
e Drift Correction *.edc Format for saving drift correction
data.
x
Tagged Image
File Format
*.tif Format for saving background
images.
3 About SmartFIB | 3.5 SmartFIB File Formats
34 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
4 User Interface
4. User Interface
36 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
4 User Interface
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 37
4 User Interface
1
3
4
5
2
6
Fig. 1: SmartFIB main window
1 Tools Toolbar [- 38]
The Tools Toolbar contains tools for the Working Area. Some of them
are universal and others are mode specific.
2 Working Area [- 41]
In the Working Area, the virtual specimen and any drawn shapes are
displayed and can be edited.
Sample Mode: virtual specimen and positions
Live Mode: captured image and drawn elements. Editing of elements is
possible only inLive Mode.
3 Menu Bar [- 42]
The menus on the Menu Bar contain basic commands that you need to
work with SmartFIB. The functionality of some of items in the menu are
different for sample mode and Live Mode.
4 Standard Toolbar [- 55]
The Standard Toolbar contains various buttons for quickly accessing a
subset of the commands contained in the Menu Bar.
Additionally, there are various exclusive functions, such as previews and
mode switching.
4 User Interface | 4.1 Tools Toolbar
38 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
5 Control Panel [- 58]
Some of the commands on the Menu Bar or the Standard Toolbar do
not open dialog windows to obtain user input. Instead, they will open
tabs in this Control Panel.
6 Status Bar [- 143]
The Status Bar informs you e.g. about the current mouse position in the
Working Area (left hand side).
The status bar also allows for controlling some properties of the working
area (right hand side).
User Interface |
4.1 Tools Toolbar
The Tools Toolbar contains tools for the Working Area. Some of them are
universal and others are mode specific.
In Sample Mode, the following tools are available:
Icon Tool Tip Text Description
Tool: Select Enables selecting elements in the working area. This can be
done by clicking with the left mouse-button directly at the
element or drawing a rubber band around the structure with
the left mouse-button pressed. The selected elements will be
indicated by a bounding box consisting of eight white squares
ordered in a rectangle around the selection (dotted line in
sample mode).
In some cases it might be useful to switch off the magnetic
orientation grid in order to select the elements more easily.
This is also affected by multi-session/multi-layer selection
state.
Tool: Order Enables showing the order or to reorder the sequence of the
items to be patterned.
Tool: Zoom Allows enlarging a certain part of the working area.
For this, you have to draw a rubber band around the region
of interest. This region will be fitted into the working area.
Alternatively, you can also use the mouse wheel for zooming
in and out.
4 User Interface | 4.1 Tools Toolbar
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 39
Icon Tool Tip Text Description
Tool: Pan Enables navigating the displayed region of the working area.
This can be carried out by clicking at a given point in the area
and move the mouse with the left button pressed. The
navigation can also be executed with the scroll bars and the
quick navigation feature of the working area.
Alternatively, you can also press the mouse wheel and move
the mouse for panning.
Tool: Measuring Allows measuring distances and angles in the working area.
In Live Mode, the following tools are added:
Icon Tool Tip Text Description
Tool: Edge Select Allows selecting the edge of an element, such as rectangles,
trapezoids and polygons which will define the scan direction
so that it will be scanned last.
Tool: Vertex Allows changing the geometric properties of elements.
Tool: Simple Cross Section Requires the licence AUTOPREP.
Allows preparing a simple cross-section for SEM imaging and
analysis.
Tool: Cross Section Requires the licence AUTOPREP.
Allows preparing a cross-section for SEM imaging and
analysis.
Tool: Lamella Requires the licence AUTOPREP.
Allows preparing a TEM lamella.
A TEM lamella is a small slice which is milled out of the
specimen to be imaged and analyzed at high resolution in a
TEM (transmission electron microscope).
Tool: Point Allows creating point elements
Tool: Line Allows creating line elements.
Tool: Polyline Allows drawing a line element with angled segments.
Tool: Spiral Allows creating a spiral element.
4 User Interface | 4.1 Tools Toolbar
40 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
Icon Tool Tip Text Description
Tool: Rectangle Allows drawing a rectangle element.
Tool: Circle Allows drawing a circle element.
Tool: Ellipse Allows drawing an ellipse element.
Tool: Arc Allows drawing an arc element.
Tool: Polygon Allows drawing a polygon element.
Tool: Trapezoid Allows drawing a trapezoid element.
Tool: Parallelogram Allows drawing a parallelogram element.
Tool: Text Opens the Text Tool dialog.
You can adjust the font, the text size and enter text to be
exposed.
Tool: Image Allows loading bitmaps (greyscale, black, white).
These images can then be exposed.
Create solid / outline
elements
Allows you to switch between solid and outlined elements.
This function is not available for all elements (e.g. not for ASP
elements).
4 User Interface | 4.2 Working Area
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 41
User Interface |
4.2 Working Area
1
3
4
2
Fig. 2: Working Area control elements
1 Rulers
There are rulers for the X- and the Y- axes.
These rulers change depending on the applied zoom factor.
2 Image area (Live Mode)
This area shows the microscope image and elements to be milled /
exposed.
Virtual Smaple Area (Sample Mode)
This area shows the positions and the virtual sample.
3 Slider
There are sliders for the X- and the Y- axes.
These sliders change depending on the applied zoom factor.
4 User Interface | 4.3 Menu Bar
42 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
4 Navigation icon (quick navigation)
To be able to navigate within the image area/virtual sample area, click and
hold this icon.
A small preview image opens that shows the current field of view of the
image area/virtual sample area.
This function is especially helpful when a large zoom factor is applied.
4.2.1 Context Menus
Context menus provide direct access to related functions and features.
User Interface |
4.3 Menu Bar
The menus on the Menu Bar contain basic commands that you need to work with
SmartFIB. The functionality of some items in the menu are different for sample
mode and Live mode.
Menu item Description
File Contains general commands for working with
SmartFIB documents such as New, Open and Save.
Edit Contains commands for editing elements to be
exposed.
View Contains parameters to set the display properties of
the working area.
Sample [- 45] Contains sample specific commands e.g. Sample
Adjustment or setting up of a Focus plane.
Image Contains specific commands for capturing images and
the display properties for the images.
Extra Contains commands to activate/deactivate the
different tabs in the control panel and to edit the
preferences.
Help Provides access to the Software Manual and the
About window.
The About window contains useful information, i.e.
data relevant when reporting bugs to the Zeiss service
representative.
4 User Interface | 4.3 Menu Bar
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 43
4.3.1 File Menu
Access: Menu bar > File
1 New
2 Open...
3 Save
4 Save As...
5 Import
6 Quit
4.3.2 Edit Menu
Access: Menu bar > Edit
1 Undo: Shift
2 Redo
3 Cut
4 Copy
5 Paste
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44 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
6 Delete
7 Copy exposure parameters
8 Paste exposure parameters
9 Select All
10 Convert to Polygon/-line
11 Convert to Instance/Array
12 Explode to Elements
13 Attributes...
14 Move...
15 Clip...
16 Offset...
17 Align...
18 Distribute...
4.3.3 View Menu
Access: Menu bar > View
The View menu allows to show or hide tools such as rulers or scrollbars.
1 Axes
2 Grid
3 Layout
4 Rulers
5 Scrollbars
6 Position Info
7 Position Content
8 Snap to Grid
9 Color by exposure parameters status
10 Color by z-extent
11 Fit image to window
4 User Interface | 4.3 Menu Bar
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 45
4.3.4 Sample Menu
Fig. 3: Menu Bar > Sample Menu
Menu item Description
Switch Mode Allows you to toggle between Live Mode and Sample
Mode.
Alternatively, press F7 on the keyboard
Settings... Opens the Sample Settings dialog.
Adjustment... Opens the Sample Adjustment dialog.
Focus Plane... Opens the Sample Focus Plane dialog.
Expose... Starts the exposure with the current settings.
4 User Interface | 4.3 Menu Bar
46 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
4.3.4.1 Sample Settings
Fig. 4: Menu Bar > Sample Menu > Sample Settings
Section Control Element Description
- Sample:/User:/Comment:
input fields
Allow you to enter details about a sample.
Size Width: input field and arrow
buttons
Allow you to enter the width of the sample. You can enter
values manually or use the arrow buttons to change the value
in increments of 1 mm.
Height: input field and
arrow buttons
Allow you to enter the height of the sample. You can enter
values manually or use the arrow buttons to change the value
in increments of 1 mm.
Edges: drop-down menu,
input fields and arrow
buttons
These controls allow you to enter details about the coordinate
system of the sample. In general, the values define the
distance between the center of the sample and its top/bottom
and left/right edges.
- OK button Confirms the current settings and closes the dialog.
Cancel button Discards the current settings and closes the dialog.
4 User Interface | 4.3 Menu Bar
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 47
4.3.4.2 Sample Adjustment
Fig. 5: Menu Bar > Sample Menu > Sample Adjustment
4 User Interface | 4.3 Menu Bar
48 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
Section Control Element Description
Positions List
Current stage position:
readout
Shows the current X and Y stage coordinates.
These icons allow you to define the type of the adjustment
point you are about to use.
X:/Y: input fields Allow you to enter coordinates.
Pick button Offers a convenient approach to acquire the sample
coordinates of a certain point on the virtual sample. When
pressing the button, the Sample Adjustment window is
hidden and the mouse pointer changes to cross hairs. You
can click at a certain point in the structure-assembly and the
Sample Adjustment window is displayed again with the
corresponding coordinates inserted in the X:/Y: input fields.
You can click a region of interest and its coodinates will be
automatically transferred to the X: and Y: input fields.
Use focus checkbox If activated, the current focus settings are added when saving
a stage position using the Add button. For related
information see Sample Focus Plane [49].
Delete button Allows you to delete selected positions from the list.
Add button Adds the current X and Y coordinates to the list. This button is
only available if both X and Y values are determined.
- Sample-stage system:
readout
Shows if the Sample-stage system is connected or not.
Stage angle correction:
readout
Focus plane tilt: readout
Sample size: readout
Edges: readout
Displays the edges defined using the icons.
Delete all button Deletes all positions.
Close button Closes the dialog.
4 User Interface | 4.3 Menu Bar
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 49
4.3.4.3 Sample Focus Plane
Fig. 6: Menu Bar > Sample Menu > Sample Focus Plane
Section Control Element Description
Focus Points X:/Y:/ Objective voltage:
readout
Displays the current X and Y coordinates and Objective
voltage (or working distance for SEM).
Delete button Allows you to delete selected stage positions from the list.
This button is only available if a stage position has been
added.
Add button Adds the current X and Y coordinates and Objective voltage
to the list.
Delete all button Deletes all positions.
- Close button Closes the dialog.
Plane tilt: readout
4 User Interface | 4.3 Menu Bar
50 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
4.3.5 Image Menu
Access: Menu bar > Image
1 Switch mode
Switches between Live mode and sample mode.
2 Capure
Captures an image: Continues scanning until the end of the frame is
reached and then stops it. This equals Freeze on = End Frame in
SmartSEM.
For more information refer to Image Capture [134].
3 Infobar
Allows to show or hide the infobar.
4 Normalize
4.3.6 Settings Menu
Access: Menu bar > Settings
The Settings menu allows to show or hide tabs of the Control Panel and to show
the Preferences dialog.
1 Import File Selection
2 Process List
3 Settings...
4 Attributes
5 Move
4 User Interface | 4.3 Menu Bar
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 51
6 Clipping
7 Offset
8 Image Capture
9 Stage Control
10 Preferences...
4.3.6.1 Preferences
Access: Menu bar > Settings > Preferences...
Main
Section
Section Control Element Description
Application Localization Language drop-down
list
Allows to select the desired language of
all numbers displayed.
Language Language drop-down
list
Allows to select the desired language of
all displayed texts in offline mode.
4 User Interface | 4.3 Menu Bar
52 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
Main
Section
Section Control Element Description
Application Sample View > Axes Show axes checkbox Allows to show/hide the axes.
Sample View > Grid Xand Y text fields with
arrow buttons
Allows to define the grid size.
Show grid checkbox Allows to show/hide the Grid.
Snap to grid checkbox Allows to enable/disable the Snap to Grid
feature.
The Snap to Grid feature is used to draw
elements with a proper angle and
alignment by snapping the mouse
position with the help of the magnetic
Grid during element creation or
reposition.
Live View > Magnify Magnify radiobuttons Allows to select between none and
bilinear in order to display the magnified
image acordingly.
Live View > Minimize Minimize radiobuttons Allows to select between none, bilinear
and trilinear in order to display the
maminimized image.
Live View > Font Font checkbox Allows to enable/disable the use of
texture in order to display the text in the
Data Zone.
Live View > Color Color radiobuttons Allows to select the color by Exposure
Status, Z-Extent or Layer in order to
display the drawn elements.
Live View > Axes Show axes checkbox Allows to show/hide the axes.
Live View > Grid Xand Y text fields with
arrow buttons
Allows to define the grid size.
Show grid checkbox Allows to show/hide the Grid.
Snap to grid checkbox Allows to enable/disable the Snap to Grid
feature.
The Snap to Grid feature is used to draw
elements with a proper angle and
alignment by snapping the mouse
position with the help of the magnetic
Grid during element creation or
reposition.
Tools Refer to table below.
4 User Interface | 4.3 Menu Bar
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 53
Main
Section
Section Control Element Description
Document Sample View > Axes Show axes checkbox Allows to show/hide the axes.
Sample View > Grid Xand Y text fields with
arrow buttons
Allows to define the grid size.
Show grid checkbox Allows to show/hide the Grid.
Snap to grid checkbox Allows to enable/disable the Snap to Grid
feature.
The Snap to Grid feature is used to draw
elements with a proper angle and
alignment by snapping the mouse
position with the help of the magnetic
Grid during element creation or
reposition.
Live View > Axes Show axes checkbox Allows to show/hide the axes.
Live View > Grid Xand Y text fields with
arrow buttons
Allows to define the grid size.
Show grid checkbox Allows to show/hide the Grid.
Snap to grid checkbox Allows to enable/disable the Snap to Grid
feature.
The Snap to Grid feature is used to draw
elements with a proper angle and
alignment by snapping the mouse
position with the help of the magnetic
Grid during element creation or
reposition.
4 User Interface | 4.3 Menu Bar
54 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
Application Tools
Section Control Element Description
Scroll-zoom Zoom-in center: mouse radiobutton Allows to choose between Mouse
and View in order to to apply and
display the zoom-in feature.
Zoom-in center: view radiobutton
Zoom-out center: mouse radiobutton Allows to choose between Mouse
and View in order to to apply and
display the zoom-out feature.
Zoom-out center: view radiobutton
Tab opened upon element
creation
memorize radiobutton Allows to choose between Memorize,
Geometry and Recipe dialog in order
to apply accordingly in the Live Mode
when an element is being drawn or
created.
geometry radiobutton
recipe radiobutton
Tool activated upon element
creation
keep radiobutton Allows to choose bewteen Keep,
Vertex tool and Selection tool in order
to apply accordingly in the Live Mode
when an element is being drawn or
created.
vertex tool radiobutton
selection radiobutton
Serial-Section Serial section path text field Allows to enter a valid path to save
the Images grabbed during Serial
Section Imaging.
Exposure parameters Show exposure parameters dialog
checkbox
Allows to show/hide the Exposure
Parameters dialog.
4 User Interface | 4.4 Standard Toolbar
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 55
TIP
 Settings within the Document section that are confirmed by clicking OK
would be applied instantaneously (for the current document only) and
would be reflected to the user when the respective documents are saved or
when saved and loaded back.
 Settings within the Application section that are confirmed by clicking OK are
saved and reloaded for the next session.
4.3.7 Help Menu
Access: Menu bar > Help
1 SmartFIB Help
Opens the SmartFIB Electronic Help.
2 About SmartFIB
Shows information about the software version, copyright and more.
User Interface |
4.4 Standard Toolbar
The Standard Toolbar contains various buttons for quickly accessing a subset of
the commands contained in the Menu Bar. It also offers some additional
functionality for instance Zoom Control and Grid Activation.
The appearance of the Standard Toolbar is different for sample mode and Live
Mode. You can change the mode with the buttons on the rightmost side of the
Standard Toolbar.
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56 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
The following icons are available in Sample Mode:
Icon Tool Tip Text Description
Undo: Undoes the last action.
Redo: Restores the last action that was made undone.
Cut Deletes the selected entity from the layout and adds them to
the clipboard.
Copy Sample Mode: Copies the position or layout to the clipboard.
Live Mode: Copies the selected elements to the clipboard.
Paste Pastes the contents of the clipboard to the structure assembly.
Multi session selection mode If activated, you can select positions of all sessions with the
Select Tool.
If deactivated, you can select only the positions of editable
session with the Select Tool.
Select the current session
from the process list
Selects the current session from the process list.
Expose Switches to the Exposure tab of the Control Panel.
Process "Name of active
process"
Displays current positions and overall dwell time.
Select a microscope Allows column selection such as FIB, SEM, Disconnect etc.
Switch to Live Mode Sample Mode only: Switches to Live Mode.
The following icons are only available in Live Mode:
Icon Tool Tip Text Description
Center stage Moves the stage to the position defined by clicking with the
crosshair cursor within the image.
Reduced raster Switches between reduced scan and normal full frame mode.
4 User Interface | 4.4 Standard Toolbar
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 57
Icon Tool Tip Text Description
Resolution:, Scanspeed: By default: 1k Res., Scan speed 3, pixel
average, capture mode: cycle
Link to Image
Capture tab,
which allows to
change the
parameters for
the shortcut.
Resolution:, Scanspeed: 1k Res., Scan speed 5, pixel average,
capture mode: cycle
Resolution:, Scanspeed: 1k Res., Scan speed 9, pixel average,
capture mode: capture
Freeze / Unfreeze Stops/stats image capture.
Live process Shows the total number of elements in the layout and --
separated by an arrow -- the number of elements to be
exposed.
Difference comes from ignore and element outside of
scanning area.
Transfer to sample mode Requires the licence AUTOPREP.
Transfers the current layout to Sample Mode.
Switch to sample mode Live Mode only: Switches to Sample Mode.
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58 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
User Interface |
4.5 Control Panel
Fig. 7: Control Panel tabs
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Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 59
1 Import [60]
2 Process List [61]
3 Stage [138]
4 Attributes (Live Mode) [64] / Settings (Sample Mode) [129]
5 Move [- 130]
6 Clipping [- 132]
7 Offset
8 Image Capture [- 134]
9 Exposure [- 140]
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60 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
4.5.1 Import
4 User Interface | 4.5 Control Panel
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 61
Section Control Element Description
- Replace button Sample Mode: Replace currently selected positions in the
working area by selecting Structures or Layers in the treeview.
In Live Mode only positions can be used for replacing, the live
position is automatically selected.
Alternatively, you can drag & drop positions or structures.
Import File tab Up button Goes up one folder in the directory.
Refresh button Updates the current directory. This might be helpful if there
have been changes that are not yet visible.
All switch Shows all entries in a directory.
Volume: drop-down list Allows you to select a directory or drive.
Location: input field Allows you to enter a path to a directory.
Intern tab Replace button Sample Mode only: The list contains all previously imported
positions that have been transferred from Live Mode to
Sample Mode as individual layers. The button allows you to
replace selected positions or structures of the intern list.
4.5.2 Process List
TIP
To be able to use the full functionality of the Process List, the licence
AUTOPREP is required.
It allows you to transfer shapes/elements to Sample Mode and to return to
previously processed steps and positions. Positions can also be saved even along
with Drift Correction.
SmartFIB offers a Process List. This list helps you to keep track of any steps you
made during your work with SmartFIB. This allows you to backtrack your steps
easily and to increase repeatability.
All positions and parameters are saved in the Process List (without drift correction).
In Sample Mode, you can also go back to previously processed positions by and
the Process list is represented graphically. Basically, once you click Expose, a
position is added to the list.
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62 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
Fig. 8: Process List in Sample Mode
4 User Interface | 4.5 Control Panel
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 63
Section Control Element Description
List Exposable check box The user will not have control over marking of exposable
check box. But it would be automatically marked / unmarked
based on valid exposure parameter values.
Adjusted check box Informs the user if the process has a valid sample adjustment
at the moment.
Context menu By right-clicking an entry, you can open a context menu
containing the following menu items:
 Active: Activates/deactivates the currently selected
process.
Deactivation is done by activating another process.
 Expose: Switches to the Exposure tab and sets the
selected process to active..
 Visible: Shows/hides the currently selected process
 Editable: Enables/disables editiing of the currently
selected process.
 Rename: Allows you to rename the currently selected
process.
The Visible and Editable entries can also be toggled by
directly clicking at the icons.
- Add button Adds a process to the list.
Remove button Removes a selected process from the list.
Expose button Switches to the Expose tab for the selected process.
Go to button Sample Mode only: Returns to the selected process.
Go and show button Moves stage to the selected position and restores layout.
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4.5.3 Attributes (Live Mode)
4 User Interface | 4.5 Control Panel
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Section Control Element Description
- Selection: readout Shows the selected number of elements or layers.
In-Layer Id: input field and
arrow buttons
Shows the identification of an element within the layer. This
identification can be changed using the Order Tool.
Entering a value or using the buttons selects the respective
element.
Layer drop-down menu Allows you to select a layer.
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66 Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000
4.5.3.1 Recipe
This tab is used to assign exposure parameters which are determining the details of
the process for the exposure. The dialog consists of a common section which is
always displayed as it is holding the parameters which are of interest for standard
usage of SmartFIB. Besides this it contains several expandable sections that you can
show optionally when you have to perform a specific task such as creating a new
recipe.
Fig. 9: Attributes tab > Recipe tab
1 Common [- 67] section
2 Topmost Expander button
These expandable sections provide detailed information about assigned
recipes or in case of Exclusive mode they are allowing the adaptation of
the exposure parameters in a very comprehensive way.
The topmost expander button allows you to expand or collapse all
expandable section at once.
With the dedicated expander buttons you can expand or collapse each
section individually.
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Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 67
3 Description [- 73] expandable section
4 Details [- 74] expandable section
5 Scanning [- 81] expandable section
6 GIS [- 84] expandable section
7 Precision [- 86] expandable section
4.5.3.1.1 Common Section
The common section contains the following control elements:
Control Element Description
Selection: readout The recipes are assigned to either a position
(in Sample Mode), a layer or an element (Live
Mode and Designer). The Selection informs
you with which of this entities your recipe
assignment is dealing at the moment. This is
especially important as it is possible to use
multi sections (of the same entity) also.
Ignore checkbox When your current selection holds elements,
than you are able to check the Ignore flag.
This will prevent the elements from exposure
even when the exposure is carried out for the
corresponding process (see also context menu
for right click on element selections). The
status of ignored elements is indicated by a
stippled filling pattern for the elements.
Material: drop-down list Allows you to assign recipes to the Selection
directly or if so to decide about other
modalities of the exposure parameter
assignment.
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Control Element Description
Create Recipe button
The Create Recipe button allows to edit
a recipe.
Save button
The Save button allows to save a recipe.
Purpose: drop-down list In SmartFIB it is obligatory to state a purpose
for each recipe (FIB Milling, FIB deposition,
SEM Lithography or SEM Deposition). For
assigned recipes this purpose is displayed just
for informing the user. Whereas when you
edit a recipe (in Exclusive Mode) changing the
purpose by means of the drop-down list will
adapt the appearance of the Recipe dialog for
editing recipes for the chosen purpose. This is
achieved by setting certain default values and
offering only a subset of relevant parameters
for editing in the particular sections (details
see below).
Gauging: drop-down list Indicates if the current set of exposure
parameters or the used recipe is gauged or
not gauged i.e. if the set of parameters is
calibrated for a certain height or depth.
For more information refer to the Info section
at the end of this topic.
Probe: drop-down list Allows you to quickly change the used probe
for the recipe. Please be aware that although
the scanning parameters such as spacing and
dwell-time are recalculated for the new probe
there might be significant changes in the
result of the exposure. For SEM-purposes this
drop-down menu is not available.
Dose factor: input field and
arrow buttons
Only for element selections. This user input
field allows you to scale the overall dose for
the recipe by means of a factor.
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Control Element Description
Depth: input field and arrow
buttons
Only for element selections. For gauged
recipes you can set a Depth or a Height (or in
case of SEM Lithography a scaling Value) to
scale the overall dose for the entity. SmartFIB
calculates automatically the necessary changes
in the exposure parameters in order to reach
the stated result. You can control the
calculation by choosing the computed
parameter (see also: Dwell time and Cycles in
the Details section). For non-gauged sets of
exposure parameters the Depth/Height user
input field is deactivated.
Preview: button Only active in Exclusive mode. When clicking
the Preview button the Exposure Preview
dialog opens.
Material Drop-down list
1
2
3
4
Fig. 10: Recipe types
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1  Inconsistent
A selection can contain more than one entity of the same type
(elements, layers or positions). If the assigned recipe is not the same
for all entities of the Selection this is indicated by the entry:
inconsistent in the Materials drop-down list.
 None
As the layer is the lowest entity in the assignment hierarchy layers
cannot take exposure parameters from another entity. Therefore
when you do not directly assign a recipe to a layer this is indicated by
the entry: None in the Materials drop-down list.
 From Layer
Whenever you have not directly assigned a recipe to an element
selection the Material drop-down list is indicating this by the entry:
from Layer. This means that the element exposure parameters are
taken from the Layer settings. Assigning a recipe to the layer and
leaving the element Material settings: from Layer is a convenient way
to assign the same recipe to a larger number of elements.
 From Layout
Sample Mode
Whenever you have not directly assigned a recipe to a position
selection the Material drop-down list is indicating this by the entry:
from Layout. This means that the exposure parameters are taken from
the Layout settings, i.e. from the layers or the elements according to
the assignment hierarchy.
 Exclusive
Assigned recipes can be adapted by changing a few special
parameters (see below). For more flexibility or in order to create new
recipes Exposure parameters can also be assigned to entities
independent from saved recipes.
This allows you to edit all the individual parameters directly. To
achieve this you can either choose the entry: Exclusive in the Material
drop-down list or click at the (Create Recipe) Pen button next to the
Material drop-down list.
If there are any previously assigned parameters they will be used as
default when changing to Exclusive Mode. Doing so the Pen button
changes to the Save Changes button. By pressing this button the
user is offered a possibility to save the edited set of exposure
parameters as a new recipe. Apart from user saving the edited recipe
as a new recipe / can even overwrite the existing recipe as well.
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2 User Defined Recipes
Shows recipes defined by the user.
When you move the mouse over one of the entries a tooltip will be shown
which shows a summary of the parameters of the recipe. You can choose
a recipe by clicking at the entry in the drop down list. The chosen recipe
will be displayed in the collapsed drop-down menu after doing so.
3 Factory Defined Recipes
Shows pre-defined recipes by ZEISS.
When you move the mouse over one of the entries a tooltip will be shown
which shows a summary of the parameters of the recipe. You can choose
a recipe by clicking at the entry in the drop down list. The chosen recipe
will be displayed in the collapsed drop-down menu after doing so.
4 Import
By left clicking at the Import entry in the Material drop-down list you can
add existing recipes from any file path to the user defined recipe section
of the list. If applicable the file will be copied to the user recipe folder
when doing so.
Materials Context Menu
1
2
3
4
5
6
1 Default for Layer
When one Layer is selected this entry is active in the menu. It allows you
to set the current recipe asignement (excluding Exclusive) as default
setting for layer recipe assignment. This is especially usefull when you are
working with the same recipe frequently.
2 Remove Recipe
With this menu item you can remove a currently assigned user recipe from
the drop down list.
3 Remove All User Recipes
With this menu item you can remove all the user recipes from the drop
down list.
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4 Delete Recipe
With this menu item you can remove a currently assigned user recipe from
the drop down list and delete it from the recipe folder.
5 Import Recipe
With this menu item you can add existing recipes from any file path to the
user defined recipe section of the list. If applicable the file will be copied
to the user recipe folder when doing so.
6 Import all User Recipes
With this menu item you can add all recipes that are stored in the user
recipe folder to the user defined section of the list.
Info: The Basic Idea of
Gauging
The general assumption for the idea of gauging recipes is that a process which is
controlled by a set of exposure parameters delivers matchable results with respect
to milling depth or deposition height for repeated usage when basic conditions for
the process (such as used substrate or beam energy) are kept unchanged.
Furthermore it is assumed that the achieved milling depth or deposition height can
be scaled over a wide range by just scaling the overall-dose. This is surely not true
for all set of exposure parameters and of course there are limits for the simple
assumed scaling behavior.
Nevertheless there are many situations where the implementation of this simple
paradigm provides practical results for the used processes. Eventually this amounts
to the concept of scaling the milling depth or deposition height directly by
inserting the desired depth or height in units of length. This can be achieved by
measuring the resulting depth or height once for the process and insert the value
as reference value for the recipe. When this is done the recipe can be reused for
different depth or height by just entering the desired value in the Depth/Height user
input field of the common section of the recipe tab.
The user does not need to care about dose scaling or such things when he reuses
the recipe. In fact he normally does not even look into the Details section of the
Recipe tab at all. He rather chooses the recipe, states the desired depth or height
and starts the exposure. It is recommended therefore to create and use gauged
recipes for everyday work whenever it is possible as this reduces the complexity of
parameter assignment enormously. This is also the reason why the parameter
assignment for ASP elements works with gauged recipes only.
4.5.3.1.1.1 Exposure Preview
Exposure parameters may be defined in complex procedures for graphical
elements, for layers and for positions. Taking full advantage of these possibilities
makes it increasingly difficult to judge the validity of an elements exposure
parameters with respect to a given microscope.
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The Preview dialog can be used to alleviate the situation. They show the exposure
parameters resulting from the currently edited exclusive exposure parameters and
also display values that may be accompanied or replaced by informational texts in
case of errors. Previews can be applied to multi-selections as well. If a parameters
value is consistent across the selected entities, a single value will be shown, if it is
ambiguous, a range of values with lower and upper bounds is computed and
displayed.
The Preview dialog is not modal and is updated when the exposure parameters are
manipulated. It is therefore possible for the user to gradually approach dwell time
limits, etc. As unchanged probes are not resolved by the system, previews are
unsupported if at least one selected set of selected exposure parameters uses the
unchanged probe. In this case, the Preview button is insensitive.
4.5.3.1.2 Description
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Control Element Description
Description: input field Allows to comment on a newly created recipe
to provide useful information when the recipe
is used later.
4.5.3.1.3 Details
The expandable section Details is a rather comprehensive and varied dialog which
allows the user to control the exposure process in detail. In order to avoid
unneccesary complexity the apperance of the dialog is adapted to the specific
situation. Depending on the Selection and the purpose of the recipe for example
the dialog consists of different fields for stating values for Points, Lines and Areas.
When you have selected entities with inconsistent values the corresponding field
are left blank or not valid.
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Section Control Element Description
Points This field is only available for SEM Lithography and SEM deposition when the Selection is either
Layers, Positions or in case of element Selection when it contains Point elements.
Dose: input field with arrow
buttons
Indicates the overall dose for Point elements (unit: nC) which was
set for the recipe either directly for non-gauged exposure
parameters or for gauged recipes via the Depth/Height entry in
the common section.
Dwell time: input field with
arrow buttons
Indicates the duration of the dwell for each individual raster point
for a separate cycle. Depending on the selection and the chosen
computed parameter (for SEM deposition) this sub-field is
showing either the computed Dwell time, the stated Dwell time
for the recipe or not valid in case of a Selection that results in
inconsistent values for the Dwell time.
Cycles: input field with arrow
buttons
This sub-field is only displayed for SEM deposition.
For SEM Lithography the value is set implicitly to 1 and the
computed parameter is therefore always the Dwell time. For
points the number of Cycles being not 1 only makes sense in
case of very high dose values so that the maximum Dwell time
for one Cycle is exceeded or when you want to expose the point
in intervals with inserted cycle delay, see Precision [- 86].
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Section Control Element Description
Lines This field is available only for SEM Lithography and SEM deposition when the Selection is either
Layers, Positions or in case of element Selection when it contains Line elements.
Dose: input field with arrow
buttons
Indicates the overall dose for Line elements (unit: µC/cm) which
was set for the recipe either directly for non-gauged exposure
parameters or for gauged recipes via the Depth/Height entry in
the common section.
Pixel spacing: input field with
arrow buttons
Allows to define the step width for the individually scanned pixels
along the line. The unit for the Pixel spacing of Lines is always
stated directly in nm (as the Lines section is only shown for
electron beam processes where no beam diameter is available for
the probe).
Note that for a given Dose changes in the Pixel Spacing
automatically will adapt the Dwell time or the number of Cycles
depending on the actual computed parameter.
Dwell time: input field with
arrow buttons
When you have chosen SEM deposition for the Purpose of the
recipe than you can set the duration of dwell for the individually
scanned pixels along the line in units of µs by means of this input
field. When you change the value the number of Cycles will be
automatically set as the computed parameter. If on the other
hand the Purpose of the recipe is chosen to be SEM lithography
the Dwell time field informs you about the calculated duration of
dwell for the individually scanned pixels as a result of the other
parameters of the recipe. In this case the number of cycles is set
implicitly to one and the computed parameter is therefore always
the Dwell time.
Cycles: input field with arrow
buttons
This sub-field is only displayed for SEM deposition and is used to
set the number of repeats for the scan, see Scanning [- 81].
For SEM Lithography the value is set implicitly to 1 and the
computed parameter is therefore always the Dwell time. .
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Section Control Element Description
Areas Dose: input field with arrow
buttons
Indicates the overall dose forArea elements (unit: mC/cm2
) which
was set for the recipe either directly for non-gauged exposure
parameters or for gauged recipes via the Depth/Height entry in
the common section.
Pixel spacing: input field with
arrow buttons
Allows to define the step width for the individually scanned pixels
along the fast direction of the scan (pixel feed). The unit for the
Pixel spacing of Areas is stated directly in nm for electron beam
processes as there is no beam diameter available for the probe in
this cases. For FIB processes on the other hand the default unit
for the Pixel spacing is percentage of the probe diameter but
nevertheless the user has the possibility to select the unit to be
nm for the Pixel spacing by using the unit drop down menu.
Note that independent of the chosen unit the resulting filling
pattern is schematically displayed in the expandable section:
Scanning for FIB processes. Please note also that for a given Dose
changes in the Pixel spacing automatically will adapt the Dwell
time or the number of Cycles depending on the actual computed
parameter.
Track spacing: input field with
arrow buttons
Allows to define step width for the individually scanned tracks
along the slow direction of the scan (line feed). The Track spacing
is synchronized (locked) to the Pixel spacing by default. In order
to choose the value and/or the unit for the Track spacing
independently you have to unlock the synchronization of the two
parameters by means of the lock button. The unit for the Track
spacing of Areas is stated directly in nm for electron beam
processes as there is no beam diameter available for the probe in
this cases. For FIB processes on the other hand the default unit
for the Track spacing is percentage of the probe diameter but
nevertheless the user has the possibility to select the unit to be
nm for the Track spacing by using the unit drop down menu.
Please note that independent of the chosen units the resulting
filling pattern is schematically displayed in the expandable
section: Scanning for FIB processes.
Note also that for a given Dose changes in the Track spacing
automatically will adapt the Dwell time or the number of Cycles
depending on the actual computed parameter.
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Section Control Element Description
Areas Dwell time: input field with
arrow buttons
Unless you have not chosen SEM lithography for the Purpose of
the recipe you can set the duration of dwell for the individually
scanned pixels of the Area in units of µs by means of this input
field. When you change the value the number of Cycles will be
automatically set as the computed parameter. If on the other
hand the Purpose of the recipe is chosen to be SEM lithography
the Dwell time field informs you about the calculated duration of
dwell for the individually scanned pixels as a result of the other
parameters of the recipe. In this case the number of cycles is set
implicitly to one and the computed parameter is therefore always
the Dwell time.
Cycles: input field with arrow
buttons
For SEM Lithography this field is not displayed at all but the value
is set implicitly to 1 and the computed parameter is therefore
always the Dwell time. For the other purposes the Cycles input
fields is used to set the number of repeats for the scan.
Depending on the scan mode (see: Expandable section Scanning)
the Cycle number has a different. In any case apart from
scanning images it describes how often each individual scanning
point is touched by the beam during the exposure.
Ref-Height: input field with
arrow buttons
Whenever you are using a gauged recipe this field informs you
about the reference value which was inserted for gauging (see
Gauge/Regauge button). Please note for non-gauged recipes the
displayed value is 0.000 nm.
Gauge / Regauge button Depending on the status of the recipe (gauged or non-gauged)
the label of the button changes between Gauge and Regauge
(see also Gauging in the Common [- 67] section of the Recipe
tab). In both cases following Gauging dialog opens.
Gauging Dialog Enables the user to gauge, regauge or remove an existing gauging of a recipe or
the current set of exposure parameters.
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Control Element Description
Depth / Height input field
with arrow buttons
Allows to enter the measured depth / height
of the structures after exposure for gauging
the actual set of exposure parameters.
Cancel button Quits the dialog without applying any changes
to the gauging.
Reset button removes the gauging from the current set of
exposure parameters and quits the dialog.
OK button Gauges or regauges the current set of
exposure parameters to the depth/height
stated in the user input field and quits the
dialog.
Info: Deriving Values From
Area Settings for FIB Purposes
Recipes for applying the FIB (purpose: FIB Milling or FIB deposition) do not involve
separate fields for Points, Lines and Areas but rather offer the Area field only for all
situations. This is because in such cases a mechanism to derive the Line and Point
values is implicitely utilized. The basic idea is to take into account the nonzero
diameter of the FIB probe which results in an exposed Area (2-dimensional) also
for Lines (in principle 1-dim) and Points (in principle 0-dim). The following
equations are applied:
 DosePoint = (DoseArea * beam diameter2
* pi)/4
 DoseLine = DoseArea * beam diameter
 Pixel SpacingLine = Pixel SpacingArea
The values for Cycles and Dwell times for Lines and Points are synchronized to the
corresponding Area parameters.
Info: Computed Parameter The values for the individual fields of Point, Line or Area are also not completely
independent. In order allow for full flexibility and to avoid overdetermination there
is the concept of the computed parameter.
This concept allows for keeping the set of parameters consistent by making either
the number of Cycles or the Dwell time dependent on the other parameters. This
dependent parameter is indicated by the label (computed) behind the user input
field. Whenever you change one of the other parameters the computed parameter
is calculated automatically to keep the complete set of exposure parameters
consistent. If you change the value of the momentarily computed parameter the
role of the computed parameter is shifted to the other possibility (fom Cycles to
Dwell time or vice versa) and the just changed value will be kept constant from
now on when changing other parameters than Cycles or Dwell time.
For the purpose beeing SEM Lithography the computed parameter is always the
Dwell time and the number of cycles is set to 1 implicitly.
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Info: Changing the Dose
Value for Gauged Recipes
When applying gauged recipes the scaling factor for the dose is based on the Area
Dose value which was used during gauging the recipe. Therefore whenever you
change the Area dose value for an already gauged recipe the following dialog
pops up:
Clicking the Yes button removes the gauging from the current set of exposure
parameters and quits the dialog.
Clicking the No button will restore the Area Dose value which was used during
gauging the recipe and quits the dialog.
Info: Gauging for Different
Element Types
The dose for gauged recipes is scaled uniformly for Point, Line and Area elements.
When you are working with area elements exclusively the gauging process is
straightforward. It just relates the Area dose to the Ref-Depth/Height and scales
the dose according to the stated Depth/Height and Probe. For Recipes applying the
FIB (purpose: FIB Milling or FIB deposition) the dose for Points and Lines is then
also scaled as the values are derived from the Area parameters. However this
deriving will not work well enough under all circumstances. Therefore if you notice
a big discrepancy between the Depth/Height for Points, Lines and Areas when
using the same gauged recipe you should gauge the recipe for each element type
seperately and save them (with a hint to the element type in the recipe name).
Thus you can apply the recipes independently for the different element types. The
situation is slightly mor complex for electron beam purposes as one has to state
the dose values for the three element types individually as there is no deriving of
dose values for Points and Lines. Here too the easiest way to deal with this
situation is to create separate gauged recipes for each element type. If you like
you can combine the recipes to one later on.
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4.5.3.1.4 Scanning
The expandable section Scanning allows you to control the sequence of the
individually scanned pixels of the elements
Control Element Description
Mode Fast: drop-down
menu
Offers three entries which describe the relative orientation of two subsequent scanning
tracks (lines) of the filling pattern (thin black arrows in the illustration on the right hand
side of the drop down menu).
 Unidirectional: All subsequent tracks are scanned in the same direction.
 Bidirectional: The tracks are alternately scanned in opposite direction.
 By purpose: The relative orientation of two subsequent tracks is determined by
the purpose of the recipe, see also Common Section [- 67], which is bidirectional
for the four momentarily used purposes (FIB Milling, FIB Deposition, SEM
Lithography or SEM Deposition).
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Control Element Description
Cycle Mode: drop-
down menu
Allows to specify how the number of Cycles is used to affect the sequence of the
scanning tracks on a global view (light grey arrows in the illustration on the right hand
side of the drop-down menu).
 Loop: The element is filled by scanning each track only once in the first pass. The
scan is continued in identical repetitions of the first pass. The total number of
repeats is determined by the number of Cycles stated in the Details section. This
scan mode is normally used for milling processes when a uniform depth of the
milled area has to be achieved.
 Back-and-forth: The element is filled by scanning each track only once in the first
pass. The second pass is scanned by retracing the first pass with reversed
orientation regarding track sequence and direction of the individual tracks. The
scan is continued by identical repetitions of the first pass for odd pass numbers
and identical repetitions of the second pass for even pass numbers alternatingly.
The total number of passes is determined by the number of Cycles stated in the
Details section. This scan mode is normally used for deposition processes.
 Cross-section:Before moving on to the next track each individual track is scanned
again and again until the the total number of repetions is reached. For the Mode
Fast beeing bidirectional every second repetion of the track will be scanned with
reversed orientation. The total number of repetions for each track is determined
by the number of Cycles stated in the Details section. Thus the subsequent tracks
are finished completely one after the other before the next track is touched at all.
This scan mode is used normally to reach high milling rates whenever a
pronounced redeposition of material can be tolerated.
 Serial-section:Same scan style as when choosing cross-section but additionally
allows to choose a number of Tracks after which a SEM-image can be grabbed
automatically during the milling process, see also Obtaining Serial Section Images [
- 168].
 By purpose: The Cycle Mode is determined by the purpose of the recip, see also
Common Section [- 67].
Tracks input field with
arrow buttons
Allows to set the number of tracks to be scanned between grabbing the SEM-images.
The following attribution is applied:
FIB Milling cross-section
FIB Deposition Back-and-forth
SEM Lithography loop
SEM Deposition back-and-forth
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Scanning Combinations
On the right hand side of the drop-down menus the resulting combination of
Mode Fast and Cycle Mode are illustrated. Overall there are the following
possibilities:
Loop Back-and-forth Cross Section/
Serial Section
Uni-drictional
Bi-directional
Track Spacing
For FIB recipes on the right side of the expandable section Scanning the filling
pattern is sketched. It takes into account the relative dimensions of probe diameter
(diameter of the circles), Pixel spacing (horizontal distance of the circles) and Track
spacing (vetical distance of the circles). The following example illustrates the
situation for 100% Pixel spacing and 50%
Track spacing:
Info: Element Specific
Geometry of the Scanning
Tracks
The exact geometry of the scanning tracks and therefore the resulting filling
pattern depends on both the settings of the expandable section Scanning of the
Recipe tab and the element specific scanning settings of the Element Type tab.
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4.5.3.1.5 GIS
Allows to define recipes that make use of gas-injection systems (GIS) for the
processes such as beam induced deposition or gas assisted milling.
Control Element Description
Use Gas: checkbox Allows to set if the recipe will utilize a GIS at
all.
When the box is not checked then the other
user input fields of this section are disabled.
Gas: drop-down menu Allows to select a precursor.
 Unchanged: The GIS setup will not be
changed by SmartFIB during the process.
It rather keeps the GIS settings which
were choosen elsewhere unchanged.
Acknowledge: checkbox If activated, the user has to confirm or reject
every scheduled movement of the GIS
microstage. For this reason a dialog is opened
before the GIS microstage is moved, see
description below.
Auto park: checkbox If activated, the GIS will be atomatically
retracted to the parking position once the
exposure is finished.
SmartFIB GIS System Message
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Control Element Description
Yes button Confirms the scheduled GIS microstage
movement and the process will continue after
the movement is finished.
No button Rejects the scheduled GIS microstage
movement and the process will be ended
without moving the microstage at all.
Stopps the Exposure process.
Info: Do not Use the
Acknowledge Checkbox in
Unattended Processes
When the checkbox Acknowledge: is activated a user action is required to
continue with the actual process. Therefore make sure that the recipes which are
used for unattended processes e.g. overnight runs do not have the corresponding
checkbox activated.
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4.5.3.1.6 Precision
Allows to insert time delays in the sequence of the exposure process in order to
avoid artefacts of your pattern caused by settling delays.
Control Element Description
Delay: drop-down menu Allows you to control the time delay between
successive elements of a position. The Delay
can help to minimize blurry deges and
distortions of the elements to be exposed. The
actual delay is calculated automatically
according to the distance between the last
scanned pixel of the previous element and the
first scanned pixel of the next element.
 None: No delay between successive
elements at all.
 Short: Only a small delay between
successive element.
 Medium: Is the default setting for the
delay between successive elements and
should be sufficient for most applications.
 Long: A long delay between successive
elements.
 Maximum: A very long delay between
successive elements.
Cycle delay: drop-down
menu
Allows you to set a delay time between the
individual cycles of an element to be exposed.
This is especially useful for elements that are
scanned in Cycle Mode: loop or when working
with gas assisted processes.
Info: Expanded Exposure Time
due to Delays
Setting Delay other than none as well as setting a nonzero Cycle delay can lead to
much longer overall exposure times.
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4.5.3.2 Drift Correction
A drift correction is assigned to a position in Live mode by pressing the Add button
on the Drift Correction tab.
Drift Correction parameters are tranferred to Sample Mode when exposing the
structure or clicking on the Transfer button. In Sample Mode the values can be
edited and the Drift Correction can be removed.
The following dialog allows for setting up the parameter for a Drift Correction.
Fig. 11: Attributes tab > Drift Correction tab
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Section Control Element Description
- Size: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the size of the drift correction mill mark.
You can enter values manually or change the size with the
arrow buttons in increments of 1 µm (width and height are
linked).
Correction Interval: input
field and arrow buttons
Allows you to change the correction interval. A drift
correction will be applied each time the interval has expired.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 1 s.
(In case of serial section imaging the interval is specified in
number of sections.)
Skip Pos on Error checkbox If drift correction fails for the position the process is continued
by exposing the next position of the process list.
Mark
Preparation
Depth: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the depth of the drift correction mill
mark. You can enter values manually or change the depth
with the arrow buttons in increments of 0.01 µm.
Exposure: readout and
Select ... button
Allows you to load exposure files (*.epm)
No Mark Milling checkbox If activated, an existing pattern will be used as reference for
the drift correction.
Changes to Stop when activated.
Mill Mark button Mills a mark in order to define a feature for performing Drift
Correction..
Continuous checkbox If active, milling of the Drift Correction mark will continue
until you click the Stop button.
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Section Control Element Description
Image
Acquisition
Resolution: drop-down list Allows you to select a resolution for the reference and the
correction image.
Dwell Time: drop-down list Allows you to change the dwell time for the Drift correction
image.
Probe: drop-down list Allows you to select the probe current used for the Drift
correction image. The value unchanged takes the Imaging
Probe of SmartFIB.
Auto BC checkbox If activated, contrast and brightness will be set automatically.
For this purpose, multiple images will be captured.
Full Frame Search checkbox If activated, the full frame will be scanned ti find the reference
position.
Acquire Reference button Starts acquiring a reference image based on the current
settings.
Changes to Stop when activated.
- Remove button Completely removes the drift correction. All drift correction
settings for the selected position will be lost.
Export... button Allows you to export drift correction parameters as *.edc files.
Import... button Allows you to import drift correction parameters from *.edc
files.
Test button Starts a test for drift correction using the current drift
correction settings.
Advance The following advanced settings are used when the drift corretion is used to follow a position
during stage tilt e.g. when tilting a cut-out for TEM lamella.
Tilt Step Small: input field
and arrow buttons
Allows you to change the small tilt step. The stage is tilted in
steps. The tilting starts with four large steps and finally n small
steps. These must be set by an expert depending on the stage
and sample.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.5 steps.
Tilt Step Large: input field
and arrow buttons
Allows you to change the large tilt step. The stage is tilted in
steps. The tilting starts with four large steps and finally n small
steps. These must be set by an expert depending on the stage
and sample.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.5 steps.
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Section Control Element Description
Reference Angle: input field
and arrow buttons
Allows you to set the start angle for the drift correction.
This angle is taken into account whenever a stage tilt is
involved during exposure with drift correction.
4.5.3.3 Common
This tab contains sections that are only available if the respective geometric
element is currently selected.
Support for every element and also multi-selections. Not visible if a layer is selected.
Fig. 12: Attributes tab > Common tab
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Section Control Element Description
Dose factors Point: input field and arrow
buttons
(Only available if a point is selected) Allows you to apply a
dose factor. This is to define the multiplication factor (of
applied dose) for the various element types.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 units.
Line: input field and arrow
buttons
(Only available if a line is selected) Allows you to apply a dose
factor. This is to define the multiplication factor (of applied
dose) for the various element types.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 units.
Area: input field and arrow
buttons
(Only available if a two-dimensional object is selected) Allows
you to apply a dose factor. This is to define the multiplication
factor (of applied dose) for the various element types.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 units.
Image: input field and arrow
buttons
(Only available if an image is selected) Allows you to apply a
dose factor. This is to define the multiplication factor (of
applied dose) for the various element types.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 units.
- Ignore checkbox If activated, the currently selected geometric element or
image becomes hidden.
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4.5.3.4 Element Type
4.5.3.4.1 Simple Cross Section
Fig. 13: Attributes Tab > Simple Cross Section
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Section Control Element Description
- Explanatory drawing Shows how the various parameters influence the simple cross
section.
The drawing changes according to the selected parameter
section by clicking the information symbol or by changing a
parameter.
Geometry Width: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the width of the cross section.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Depth: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the depth of the cross section.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Angles: Expandable section
Opening Angle: input field
and arrow buttons
Allows you to change the opening angle of the cross section.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 1 .
SEM perspective: input
field, arrow buttons and
readout
Allows you to change the SEM perspective angle.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 .
The readout hight of the trapezoid changes accordingly.
Milling Steps Material: drop-down list and
browse button
Allows you to select a milling recipe (gauged only).
FIB Probe drop-down list Allows you to select a FIB probe. Unchanged uses the current
FIB probe setting.
Loops text field with arrow
buttons
Allows you to set a number of repetitions for each milling
step.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 1 loop.
Time readout Displays the required time for the milling step (loops are not
shown). The value changes according to the selected
parameters for the milling step.
- Load / Save / Delete buttons Allows you to load, save and delete default cross section
parameter sets.
- Import... / Export... buttons Allows you to import and export ASP parameters(*.esp).
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4.5.3.4.2 Cross Section
Fig. 14: Attributes tab >Cross Section tab
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Section Control Element Description
- Explanatory drawing Shows how the various parameters influence the cross
section.
The drawing changes according to the selected parameter
section by clicking the information symbol or by changing a
parameter.
Geometry Width: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the width of the cross section.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Depth: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the depth of the cross section.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Angles: Expandable section
Opening Angle: input field
and arrow buttons
Allows you to change the opening angle of the cross section.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 1 .
SEM perspective: input
field, arrow buttons and
readout
Allows you to change the SEM perspective angle.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 .
The readout hight of the trapezoid changes accordingly.
Deposition Deposition checkbox Allows you to create a cross section with or without
depositing material.
Material: drop-down list and
browse button
Allows you to select a recipe for deposition (gauged only).
Milling Steps Milling Steps checkbox,
input field and arrow buttons
Allows you to activate / deactivate any milling involved in
creating a cross section. Only deposition steps will be
performed if the checkbox is deactivated.
The order of the milling steps from top to bottom in the list
reflects the order from rough to fine.
Material: drop-down list and
browse button
Allows you to select a milling recipe (gauged only).
- Automatic Proximity and
Overlap checkbox
Enables the automatic proximity and overlap calculation.
- Polishing Tilt text field with
arrow buttons
Allows you to set a stage tilt angle for the last milling step in
order to achieve the perpendicular flank.
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Section Control Element Description
- Load / Save / Delete buttons Allows you to load, save and delete default cross section
parameter sets.
Import... / Export... buttons Allows you to import and export ASP parameters(*.esp).
- Defaults: drop-down list Allows you to switch between the regular dialog or a
simplified version with less parameters.
Expandable Sections
Fig. 15: Cross Section tab >Expandable Section >Angles
Section Control Element Description
Angles Opening Angle: input field
and arrow buttons
Allows you to change the opening angle of the cross section.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 1 .
SEM perspective: input
field, arrow buttons and
readout
Allows you to change the SEM perspective angle.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 .
The readout hight of the trapezoid changes accordingly.
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Deposition
Fig. 16: Cross Section tab >Expandable Section >Deposition
Section Control Element Description
Deposition Probe: drop-down list Allows you to select a FIB probe. Unchanged uses the current
FIB probe setting.
Time: readout The readout shows the required time according to the
selected deposition parameters.
Margin Height: input field
and arrow buttons
Allows you to change the margin height of the deposition.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Margin Width: input field
and arrow buttons
Allows you to change the margin width of the deposition.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Thickness: input field and,
arrow buttons
Allows you to set the deposition thickness.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
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Milling Steps
Fig. 17: Cross Section tab >Expandable Section >Milling Steps
Section Control Element Description
Milling Steps Active checkbox Allows you to activate / deactivate each step of the milling
process individually. The number of entries on the list depends
on the number of milling steps selected with the input field
and arrow buttons above the list.
FIB Probe drop-down list Allows you to select a FIB probe for the respective milling
step. Unchanged uses the current FIB probe setting.
Proximity input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to change the safety gap of the corresponding
milling step with respect to the final edge of the cross section.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Overlap input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to change the overlap to the previous milling step.
You cannot set an overlap for the first milling step.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
DC Interval input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to set a drift correction interval for the respective
milling step.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 1 s.
Loops input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to set a number of repetitions for each milling
step.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 1 loop.
Time readout Displays the required time for each milling step (loops are not
shown). The value changes according to the selected
parameters for the milling step.
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4.5.3.4.3 Lamella
Fig. 18: Attributes tab >Lamella
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Section Control Element Description
- Explanatory drawing Shows how the various parameters influence the lamella.
The drawing changes according to the selected parameter
section by clicking the information symbol or by changing a
parameter.
Geometry Thickness: input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to change the thickness of the lamella.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Width: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the width of the lamella.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Depth: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the depth of the lamella.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Angles: Expandable section Opens an expandable section. For details, see below.
Deposition Deposition checkbox Allows you to create a lamella with or without depositing
material.
Material: drop-down list and
browse button
Allows you to select a recipe used for deposition (gauged
only).
Milling Steps Milling Steps checkbox,
input field and arrow buttons
Allows you to activate / deactivate any milling involved in
creating a lamella. Only milling steps will be performed if the
checkbox is activated.
Material: drop-down list and
browse button
Allows you to select a milling recipe (gauged only).
- Load / Save / Delete buttons Allows you to load, save and delete default lamella parameter
sets.
Import... / Export... buttons Allows you to import and export ASP parameters(*.esp).
Cut Out Probe drop-down list Allows you to select a FIB probe. Unchanged uses the current
FIB probe setting.
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Fig. 19: Lamella > Angles
Section Control Element Description
Angles Opening Angle: input field
and arrow buttons
Allows you to change the opening angle of the lamella.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 1 .
FIB Cut-Out: input field,
arrow buttons and readout
Allows you to change the FIB cut-out angle.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 .
The readout hight of the trapezoid changes accordingly.
SEM perspective: input
field, arrow buttons and
readout
Allows you to change the SEM perspective angle.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 .
The readout hight of the trapezoid changes accordingly.
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Deposition
Fig. 20: Lamella > Deposition
Section Control Element Description
Deposition Probe: drop-down list Allows you to select a FIB probe. Unchanged uses the current
FIB probe setting.
Time: readout The readout shows the required time according to the
selected deposition parameters.
Margin Height: input field
and arrow buttons
Allows you to change the margin height of the deposition.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Margin Width: input field
and arrow buttons
Allows you to change the margin width of the deposition.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Thickness: input field and,
arrow buttons
Allows you to set the deposition thickness.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
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Milling Steps
Fig. 21: Lamella >Expandable Section >Milling Steps
Section Control Element Description
Milling Steps Active checkbox Allows you to activate / deactivate each step of the milling
process individually. The number of entries on the list depends
on the number of milling steps selected with the input field
and arrow buttons above the list.
FIB Probe drop-down list Allows you to select a FIB probe for the respective milling
steps. Unchanged uses the current FIB probe setting.
Proximity input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to change the proximity value for the respective
milling steps.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Overlap input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the overlap of any subsequent milling
steps. You cannot set an overlap for the first milling step.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
DC Interval input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to set a drift correction interval for the respective
milling steps.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 1 s.
Loops input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to set a number of repetitions for each milling
step.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 1 loop.
Time readout Displays the required time for each milling step (loops are not
shown). The value changes according to the selected
parameters for the milling step.
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Fig. 22: Lamella > Cut Out
Section Control Element Description
Cut Out Width of cut: input field
and, arrow buttons
Allows you to set the width of the cutout shape.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Link size: input field and,
arrow buttons
Allows you to set a width for the link to the substract of the
lamella after cutout.
Side margin: input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to adjust the distance between cutout and sides of
the lamella.
Bottom margin: input field
and arrow buttons
Allows you to adjust the distance between cutout and the
bottom of the lamella.
Depth tuning factor: input
field and arrow buttons
Allows you to change the depth tuning factor, which is a dose
factor for the cutout milling process.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1.
Link position: left / right
radiobutton
Allows you to decide whether the link of the lamella after cut
out remains on the left or right side.
4.5.3.4.4 Point
Fig. 23: Attributes tab > Point tab
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Section Control Element Description
Position X: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the X position of the point.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the point in increments of 0.1 µm.
Y: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the Y position of the point.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the point in increments of 0.1 µm.
4.5.3.4.5 Line
Fig. 24: Attributes tab > Line tab
Section Control Element Description
Start Point X: / Y: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to define the line's starting point.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the X and Y coordinates in increments of 0.1 µm.
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Section Control Element Description
End Point X: / Y: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to define the line's end point.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the X and Y coordinates in increments of 0.1 µm.
Angle: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to rotate the line around its starting point.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the angle in increments of 1.
Length: input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to change the length of the line.
This value only influences the line's end point.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the lenght in increments of 0.1 µm.
Line Width Width: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows to convert the line to a polygon with a defined width.
If line width is not zero, the Angle section appears. It offers
the possibility to adapt the scan geometry. For more
information refer to Polygon [- 118], Angle section.
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4.5.3.4.6 Polyline
Fig. 25: Attributes tab > Polyline tab
Section Control Element Description
- Points list This list shows the X and Y coordinates of the successive
points along the polyline (but not the last).
Add button Adds a point to the line. This button is only active if an entry
on the list is selected.
Remove button Removes a point from the polyline. This button is only active if
an entry on the list is selected and there are more than two
points.
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Section Control Element Description
Point position X: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the X position of the selected point on
the line.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the point in increments of 0.1 µm.
Y: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the Y position of the selected point on
the line.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the point in increments of 0.1 µm.
Line Width Width: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows to convert the line to a polygon with a defined width.
If line width is not zero, the Angle section appears. It offers
the possibility to adapt the scan geometry. For more
information refer to Polygon [- 118], Angle section.
4.5.3.4.7 Spiral
Fig. 26: Attributes tab > Spiral tab
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Section Control Element Description
Center X: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the X position of the center of the
spiral.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the spiral in increments of 0.1 µm.
Y: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the Y position of the center of the
spiral.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the spiral in increments of 0.1 µm.
Dimensions Arm distance: input field
and arrow buttons
Allows you to change the arm distance of the spiral.
This parameter affects the size of the spiral.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the arm distance in increments of 0.1 µm.
Revolutions: input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to change the number of revolutions of the spiral.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the number of revolutions in increments of 0.001
revolution.
Length: readout Displays the total length of the spiral. It is influenced by the
arm distance and the revolutions.
Transformation Rotation: input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to rotate the spiral around its origin. Angles are
measured against the positive X-axis. Counter-clockwise
rotation is indicated by positive rotation angles.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
rotate the spiral in increments of 0.1.
Mirror: checkbox If activated, the spiral is mirrored.
Line Width Width: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows to convert the spiral to a polygon with a defined
width.
If line width is not zero, the Angle section appears. It offers
the possibility to adapt the scan geometry. For more
information refer to Polygon [- 118], Angle section.
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4.5.3.4.8 Rectangle
Fig. 27: Attributes tab > Rectangle tab
Section Control Element Description
- Outline checkbox If activated, the rectangle will not be filled and becomes an
line type element instead.
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Section Control Element Description
Position X: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the X position of the rectangle.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the rectangle in increments of 0.1 µm.
When not rotated the value indicates the top left corner of
the rectangle.
Y: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the Y position of the rectangle.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the rectangle in increments of 0.1 µm.
Dimensions Width: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the width of the rectangle.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the rectangle in increments of 0.1 µm.
A negative value is also possible.
Height: input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to change the height of the rectangle.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the rectangle in increments of 0.1 µm.
A negative value is also possible.
Prototype Reference image The reference image shows the assignment of the axes and
the dimensions.
The image is not freely rotated (only flips and rotations by
+/-90 are accounted for).
Angles For information refer to Polygon [- 118], Angle section.
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4.5.3.4.9 Circle
Fig. 28: Attributes tab > Circle tab
Section Control Element Description
- Outline checkbox If activated, only the outline of the circle is shown.
Center X: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the X position of the circle's center
point.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the point in increments of 0.1 µm.
Y: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the Y position of the circle's center
point.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the point in increments of 0.1 µm.
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Section Control Element Description
Radius Radius: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the radius of the circle.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the radius increments of 0.1 µm.
Start angle: input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to change the starting angle of the circle (only
relevant for scanning).
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the angle in increments of 1.
Prototype Reference image The reference image shows the assignment of the parameters.
Arc scanning Start:
outside/inside radio buttons
Selects either the outside or the inside of the shape as starting
point for the scan.
Start:
counter-clockwise/
clockwise radio button
Selects either clockwise or counter-clockwise orientation for
the scan.
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4.5.3.4.10 Ellipse
Fig. 29: Attributes tab > Ellipse tab
Section Control Element Description
- Outline checkbox If activated, only the outline of the ellipse is shown.
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Section Control Element Description
Center X: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the X position of the ellipse's center
point.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the point in increments of 0.1 µm.
Y: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the Y position of the ellipse's center
point.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the point in increments of 0.1 µm.
Radii a: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change radius a of the ellipse.
This semi-axis determines the width of the non-rotated ellipse.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the radius increments of 0.1 µm.
b: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change radius b of the ellipse.
This semi-axis determines the height of the ellipse.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the radius increments of 0.1 µm.
Transformation Rotation: input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to change the starting angle of the ellipse.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the angle in increments of 1.
Prototype Reference image The reference image shows the assignment of the parameters.
Angles Mode:
manual radio button
This function is not available.
Mode:
automatic radio button
This function is not available.
Fast: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the angle of the fast scan direction
along the scan lines.
Angles are measured against the positive X-axis. Counter-
clockwise rotation is indicated by positive rotation angles.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the currently loaded image in increments of 1.
Slow: left / right
radiobuttons
Allows you to change the slow direction of the scan
perpendicular to the scan lines.
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4.5.3.4.11 Arc
Fig. 30: Attributes tab > Arc
Section Control Element Description
- Outline checkbox If activated, the arc will not be filled, only the contour will be
scanned as line element.
Center X: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the X position of the arc's center point.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the point in increments of 0.1 µm.
Y: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the Y position of the arc's center point.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the point in increments of 0.1 µm.
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Section Control Element Description
Angles 1: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change angle 1 of the arc's opening.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the radius in increments of 0.1 µm.
2: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change angle 2 of the arc's opening.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the radius in increments of 0.1 µm.
Radii 1: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the first radius a of the arc.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the radius in increments of 0.1 µm.
2: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the second radius a of the arc.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the radius in increments of 0.1 µm.
Prototype Reference image The reference image shows the assignment of the parameters.
Arc scanning Start:
outside/inside radio buttons
Selects either the outside or the inside of the shape as starting
point for the scan.
Start:
counter-clockwise/
clockwise radio button
Selects either clockwise or counter-clockwise orientation for
the scan.
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4.5.3.4.12 Polygon
Fig. 31: Attributes tab > Polygon tab
Section Control Element Description
- Outline checkbox If activated, only the contour of the polygon will be scanned
as line element.
Points list This list shows the X and Y coordinates of the polygon's
starting and end point.
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Section Control Element Description
- Add button Adds a point to the polygon. This button is only active if an
entry on the list is selected.
The point will be added after the selected point. It will be
placed between the selected and the subsequent point of the
polygons contour.
The selected point is/the selected points are indicated as solid
white square in the working area when the Vertex tool is
activated.
Remove button Removes a point from the polygon. This button is only active
if an entry on the list is selected. The polygon will disappear if
less than three points are present.
User is not allowed to remove the points of a Polygon if the
total number of points are less than three.
The selected point is/the selected points are indicated as solid
white square in the working area when the Vertex tool is
activated.
Point position X: input field and arrow
buttons
Only available if a single point is selected: Allows you to
change the X position of a point on the polygon.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the polygon in increments of 0.1 µm.
The selected point is/the selected points are indicated as solid
white square in the working area when the Vertex tool is
activated.
Y: input field and arrow
buttons
Only available if a single point is selected: Allows you to
change the Y position of a point on the polygon.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
move the polygon in increments of 0.1 µm.
The selected point is/the selected points are indicated as solid
white square in the working area when the Vertex tool is
activated.
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Section Control Element Description
Angles Mode:
manual radio button
If activated, the manual angles settings will be enabled.
 Fast: input field and arrow buttons
Allows you to change the angle of the fast scan direction
along the scan lines.
Angles are measured against the positive X-axis. Counter-
clockwise rotation is indicated by positive rotation angles.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons
to move the currently loaded image in increments of 1.
 Slow: left / right radiobuttons
Allows you to change the slow direction of the scan
perpendicular to the scan lines.
Mode:
automatic radio button
If activated, the angles settings will be set to automatic.
Once you have selected an edge, the angle will be
automatically computed from the given edge information. The
angle is selected implicitly rather than explicitly.
 Edge text field with arrow buttons
Allows to select the edge which determines the scan
directions.
The selected edge indicates the end of the scan, see also
Tools Toolbar [- 38] Tool: Edge Select.
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4.5.3.4.13 Trapezoid
Fig. 32: Attributes tab > Trapezoid tab
Section Control Element Description
- Outline checkbox If activated, only the contour of the trapezoid is scanned as
line element.
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Section Control Element Description
Position X: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the X position of the trapezoid.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Y: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the Y position of the trapezoid.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
- Symmetric checkbox If activated, you can only create symmetrical trapezoids.
Asymmetrical trapezoids will automatically change to a
symmetrical shape if you activate the checkbox later.
Dimensions Width (a):/Width (b): input
fields and arrow buttons
Allows you to change width a and b of the trapezoid.
If the Symmetric checkbox is activated, both widths are linked.
Otherwise, you can change the widths independently to
create asymmetrical trapezoids.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Offset (c): input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to change the offset between width a and b.
Width b will change according to the offset value.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Height (h): input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to change the height of the trapezoid.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Transformation Rotation: input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to rotate the trapezoid.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
rotate the trapezoid in increments of 0.1.
Prototype Reference image The reference image shows the assignment of the axes and
the dimensions.
Angles For information refer to Polygon [- 118], Angle section.
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4.5.3.4.14 Parallelogram
Fig. 33: Attributes tab > Parallelogram tab
Section Control Element Description
- Outline checkbox If activated, only the contour of the parallelogram is scanned
as a line element.
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Section Control Element Description
Position X: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the X position of the parallelogram.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Y: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the Y position of the parallelogram.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Dimensions Width (a): input fields and
arrow buttons
Allows you to change the width a of the parallelogram.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Offset (c): input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to change the offset c of the parallelogram.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Height (h): input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to change the height h of the parallelogram.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Transformation Rotation: input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to rotate the parallelogram. The center of rotation
is the center of the bounding box.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
rotate the parallelogram in increments of 0.1.
Prototype Reference The reference shows the assignment of the axes and the
dimensions.
Angles For information refer to Polygon [- 118], Angle section.
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4.5.3.4.15 Text
Fig. 34: Attributes tab >Text
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Section Control Element Description
- Outline checkbox If activated, only the outlines of the text will be milled/
exposed.
If deactivated, the full letters will be milled/exposed.
Position X: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the X position of the Text.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Y: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the Y position of the Text.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Dimensions Height: input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to change the text height.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Font Font: drop-down list You can select the desired font.
Text Text field Shows the currently entered text. You can use this text field to
enter additional text or to edit or remove already entered
words.
To be able to edit the text, click into the text field once.
Transformation Rotation: input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to rotate the text around its center. You can enter
values manually or use the arrow buttons to move the
currently loaded image in increments of 0.1.
Angles For information refer to Ellipse [- 114], Angle section.
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4.5.3.4.16 Image
Fig. 35: Attributes tab >Image
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Section Control Element Description
- File: readout Displays the file name of the currently loaded image file.
Save absolute filename
checkbox
If activated, the absolute file name will be saved. This makes it
harder to copy layouts that include files to other machines.
Position X: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the X position of the image.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Y: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the Y position of the image.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Dimensions Width: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the width of the image.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Height: input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to change the height of the image.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the value in increments of 0.1 µm.
Preserve aspect ratio:
checkbox
If activated, the aspect ratio of the image will be preserved if
either the width or the height are changed.
Transformation Rotation: input field and
arrow buttons
Allows you to rotate the image around its origin. You can
enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to move the
currently loaded image in increments of 0.1.
Color Preserve colors checkbox If activated, the original colors of the image will be displayed.
Inverse checkbox If activated, the image colors will be inverted.
Spacing X-direction/y-direction
readout
Informs you about the distance of the scan pixel, which is
given by the resolution of the image and its scaling.
Image Mode: bi-directional / uni-
directional radiobutton
Allows to set if the subsequent lines are scanned in the same
direction or in the meander style.
Direction: horizontal /
vertical radiobutton
Allows to set the orientation of the subsequent lines.
Orientation radiobuttons Allows you to set the start point of the scan.
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Section Control Element Description
Fragmentation Mode: pixel-by-pixel / slice-
by-slice radiobutton
Allows you to set the scan style for the image. In pixel-by-pixel
style the full dose is applied to the individual pixels in one
iteration.
In slice-by-slice style there will be several iterations and for
each of them it is decided if a certain pixel will be exposed so
that finally the full dose is applied.
Sub-slices text field with
arrow buttons
Only available if slice-by-slice is selected.
Determines the number of sub-iterations.
4.5.4 Settings (Sample Mode)
Section Control Element Description
- Selection: readout Shows the selected number of elements or layers.
The Settings tab contains the following tabs:
 Recipe [- 66]
 Drift Correction [- 87]
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4.5.5 Move
Section Control Element Description
- Selection: readout Live Mode: Displays the number of currently selected
geometrical elements.
Sample Mode: Shows the number of currently selected
positions.
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Section Control Element Description
Shift tab Absolute radio button Allows you to move the element position in absolute values.
Relative radio button Allows you to move the element/layer relative to the current
position.
X:/ Y: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the X and Y position of the currently
selected geometrical element(s)/ position (s). You can enter
values manually or use the arrow buttons to change the
values in increments of 0.1 µm.
Rotate tab Angle: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to rotate the currently selected geometrical
element(s)/ position (s) around its/their origin. Angles are
measured against the positive X-axis. Counter-clockwise
rotation is indicated by positive rotation angles. You can enter
values manually or use the arrow buttons to change the
values in increments of 0.1.
Scale tab: Live
Mode only
Units: radio buttons Allows you to switch between the units µm and percent.
X:/ Y: input field and arrow
buttons
Allows you to change the X and Y dimensions of the currently
selected geometrical element(s). You can enter values
manually or use the arrow buttons to change the values in
increments of 0.1 µm.
Proportional checkbox If ticked, any change of one dimension will automatically
affect the other dimension in order to maintain the original
proportions.
- Apply button Applies the movement, rotation or scaling according to the
entered values.
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4.5.6 Clipping
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Section Control Element Description
- Selection readout Shows the selected amount of elements.
Clipping
Operation
Intersection radio button Only the intersecting areas of two or more elements remain
when you click Apply.
Difference radio button Activates the Set Minuend button, the Set Subtrahend and
the Clear button.
Union radio button Merges two or more elements when you click Apply.
XOR radio button Only the not-intersecting areas of two or more elements
remain when you click Apply.
- Set Difference Base button This button is only active if the Difference radio button is
activated.
Clear button Cancels the current selection.
Apply button Applies the selected clipping method.
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4.5.7 Offset
4.5.8 Image Capture
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Section Control Element Description
Scanning Area Resolution: drop-down
menu
Allows you to select the number of image pixels per line.
Aspect: drop-down menu Allows you to select the aspect ratio of the image. The format
of the image in the Working Area changes according to the
selected value when grabbing an image.
It also displays the last user defined aspect ratio in the list.
Size: radio button Enables the Width: and Height: input fields and arrow
buttons. With these control elements, you can set the width
and height of the image. The lock icon allows changing the
parameters independently or locked to the given ratio.
When the lock icon is unlocked, you can set user defined
aspect ratio. When it is lock again, it will be added to the
Aspect drop-down list.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the width in increments of 0.1 µm. The height can be
changed in increments of 1.0 µm.
Magnification: radio button Enables the Magnification: input fields and arrow buttons.
With these control elements, you can size at the image by
means of the magnification applied to the microscope. The
aspect ratio corresponds to the settings made using the
Aspect: and Size: control elements.
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Section Control Element Description
Acquisition Dwell time: drop-down
menu
Allows you to select from various pre-defined dwell time
values in µs.
Area dose: readout Displays the current area dose in µC/cm².
Cycle time: readout Displays the current cycle time in seconds.
Averaging: drop-down
menu
Allows you to select the averaging:
 None: no averaging is applied.
 Line:
Each line to be scanned a number of times before the
scan moves on. The average line signal is stored and
displayed.
 Frame:
Averaging of two or more consecutive frames: Frames
are scanned continuously and the image is formed as the
average of a number of successive frames.
Avg. Num.: slider, input field
and arrow buttons
These control elements are only active if you have selected
line or frame averaging.
Depending on the selected averaging method, you can set the
number of times a line or frame is to be averaged for
displaying the image.
Scan Speed on panel is:
drop-down menu
Allows you to assign the Scan Speed + and Scan Speed -
buttons on the hardware control panel to either dwell time or
to the averaging number.
Probe: drop-down menu Allows you to set the probe for imaging.
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Section Control Element Description
- Stop button Immediately stops the scan. This equals Freeze on =
Command in SmartSEM.
Capture button Captures an image: Continues scanning until the end of the
frame is reached and then stops it. This equals Freeze on =
End Frame in SmartSEM.
 Capture (no Frame averaging): Grabs one frame.
Freeze on end of frame in SmartSEM.
 Capture (Frame averaging): Grabs the set of average
frames.
Frame integration in SmartSEM.
 Capture during cycling: Finishes the set of averaged
frames and stops.
Freeze on end of frame in SmartSEM.
Cycle button Activates a continous scan according to the setup averaging
made..
1, 2, 3 buttons  Left click: Allows you to call up three pre-defined image
capture settings.
 Right-click: Allows you to save current image capture
settings as shortcuts.
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4.5.9 Stage
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Section Control Element Description
- Stage status: readout Shows if the stage is currently moving or not.
System: Stage/Sample radio button Switches between coordinate systems. It uses either the
microscope stage system or the virtual sample system.
Position Stage at readout Shows the current stage position in the selected coordinate
system.
To / Delta radio buttons Switches between absolute coordinates and delta values. You
can apply delta values based on the current stage position.
Checkboxes, input fields and
arrow buttons
If you deactivate a checkbox, this parameter will be ignored
when clicking Go.
You can enter values manually or use the arrow buttons to
change the values. The increments vary depending on the
selected parameter.
pick button only available when the sample coordinate system is selected.
Allows you to pick an absolute coordinate value by clicking on
the image in Live Mode or on the virtual sample in Sample
Mode.
Go button Moves the stage according to the selected parameters.
Backlash checkbox Activates the backlash function.
Backlash is employed to take up the necessary mechanical
play in the stage motors, so that any absolute stage position is
always approached from the same direction, improving the
repeatability of motorized stage movement.
Focus tracking checkbox
STOP button Stops the moving stage
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4.5.10 Exposure
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Section Control Element Description
Exposure Time estimation:
readout
Displays how long it will approximately take to exposure the selected
element (layout in Live Mode or process in Sample Mode) (only net
time = sum of all pixel dwell times)..
Continuous checkbox If activated, you can set the number of iterations for the exposure
process.
During exposure, the number of iterations is incremented right next
to the Continous checkbox.
Iterations text field with arrow buttons:
 0 = endless
 1 = once
 2 = twice
 and so on.
Progress is indicated during exposure in the Progress bar.
Nudge checkbox If activated, the Nudge dialog opens when starting the exposure.
This dialog allows you to manipulate elements during exposure. This
function is not always available. If it is unavailable, the checkbox is
greyed out and the reason is displayed next to the checkbox.
Status: readout Displays the current status of the exposure. It showsthe status of the
exposure that is currently running and if it has finished successfully
or erroneously.
System: readout For example, this readout shows the currently used gas.
Progress: bar Displays the current progress of a running exposure process.
Error: readout If the exposure process is in an error state, this readout shows the
category of the error.
Close button Closes the Exposure tab.
Switching between Live Mode and Sample Mode is not possible
until the dialog is closed.
Start button Starts an exposure process with the currently selected parameters.
Stop button Turns to stop during exposure.
Pause button Pauses a running exposure process.
Continue button Turns to continue exposure.
Start DC button Starts a drift correction during the milling process. Only available if
the drift correction has been configured and an exposure is currently
active.
Capture button Grabs/refreshes background image.
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Section Control Element Description
Exposure
Properties
On End Mill: drop-
down menu
Allows you to select an action automatically carried out after
exposure is finished.
On Start Mill: drop-
menu
Allows you to select if SEM imaging is stated during exposure.
End Msg checkbox If unticked, no message appears after an exposure has finished. This
accelerates the handling necessary for automatic exposure
processes.
Move
(only displayed
if Nudge is
checked)
Shift Arrow buttons Allow to shift the momentarily exposed elements.
Shift Increment text
fields with arrow
buttons
Allows to set the increment for shifting.
Rotation Arrow
buttons
Allow to rotate the momentarily exposed elements.
Rotation Increment
text fields with arrow
buttons
Allows to set the increment for rotation.
Shift and Rotation
readout
Informs the user about the accumulated shift and rotation.
Deepen
(only displayed
if Nudge is
checked)
+ / - buttons Allows to set the increment for changing the depth.
Depth Increment text
fields with arrow
buttons
Allows to set the increment for depth changes.
Change readout Informs the user about the accumulated depth changes.
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User Interface |
4.6 Status Bar
Section Tool Tip Text Description
x= and y=
readouts
- If the magnetic grid is disabled, the readouts show the current
cursor position.
If the magnetic grid is enabled, the readouts show the
rounded position that will be used for operations.
View grid Shows/Hides the orientation grid.
The grid can be customized by means of the Extra >
Preferences... menu item.
Snap to grid Activates/Deactivates the magnetic orientation grid.
The grid can be customized by means of the Extra >
Preferences... menu item.
View layout Shows/hides the layout.
Color by exposure parameter
status
Activates/Deactivates the color indication of the current
exposure parameter status.
If activated, geometric elements can have three different
colors:
 Green indicates that an element is ready to be exposed.
 Yellow indicates that the exposure parameters are
undefined: neither element nor layer nor position
parameters are defined.
 Red indicates that the parameters are erroneous for the
current device. They may well be complete and also
correct but, e.g., they may result in dwell times that are
unsupported by the microscope.
If deactivated, the layer's color is used.
Color by z-extent
Fit image to window Centers and maximizes the current image view to the image
view area.
Select zoom level Defines the zoom factor in the Working Area.
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Section Tool Tip Text Description
sample-stage adjustment Opens a submenu from which you can start the SmartFIB:
Sample Adjustment dialog.
For details, refer to Performing a Sample Adjustment.
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5. Working with the Software
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5 Working with the Software | 5.1 General Assumptions
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5 Working with the Software
Working with the Software |
5.1 General Assumptions
There are some prerequisites that have to be fulfilled when working with SmartFIB.
TIP
To make it easier to fulfill the prerequisites in SmartSEM, refer to the Software
Manual SmartSEM XB for details.
 FIB and SEM have to be ready for use
 FIB gun is on (no error messages)
 All FIB probe currents to be used have to be defined and aligned (refer to the
Software Manual SmartSEM XB, "Defining user-specific FIB probe currents")
 GIS needs to be ready for use (Refer to the GIS Instruction Manual for
instructions on outgassing, initializing etc.)
 It is recommended to move the specimen to the coincidence point. When
working with the GIS, this is mandatory.
 It is recommended to adjust the eucentricity, especially for automated
processes.
Working with the Software |
5.2 General Operation
In the following two main workflows are illustrated:
 Performing a Basic Exposure/Milling process [- 148] describes a basic
procedure that uses Live Mode only. The other procedures are based on this
section.
 Performing a Multi-Site Exposure/Milling Workflow [- 153] describes how to
work with objects that have transferred from Live Mode to Sample Mode.
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5.2.1 Performing a Basic Exposure/Milling process
The following section describes a basic exposure/milling process using Live Mode
only.
The procedure contains the following steps:
 Acquiring an Image [- 148]
 Creating Shapes/Elements to be Exposed/Milled [- 149]
 Setting the Exposure/Milling Parameters [- 150]
 Starting the Exposure/Milling Process [- 152]
5.2.1.1 Acquiring an Image
First step of a basic exposure/milling workflow is to acquire a FIB image. This image
serves as an orientation for placing geometric elements to be exposed/milled at the
right position.
You can acquire a FIB image only in Live Mode.
Procedure 1 In SmartSEM, select a proper detector (SESI or InLens).
2 Roughly approach the desired position.
3 Go to the SmartFIB user interface.
4 On the Standard Toolbar, click the Live Mode icon.
5 Select the Image Capture tab.
6 To start the scan, click Cycle.
An image appears in the Working Area.
7 To optimize the image, adjust the scanning parameters and use a reduced
raster if necessary.
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8 If the image quality is sufficient to position geometric elements with adequate
accuracy, click Capture.
5.2.1.2 Creating Shapes/Elements to be Exposed/Milled
Once you have acquired a FIB/SEM image in SmartFIB, you can start to create
elements / shapes by using the drawing tools on the Tools Toolbar.
Prerequisite  You have acquired a FIB/SEM image
Procedure 1 On the Tools Toolbar, select a drawing tool.
The cursor changes to match the selected shape.
2 Move to the desired position.
Click and hold down the left mouse button while moving the mouse.
A preview of the selected shape appears.
3 Release the mouse button.
This will create the desired shape (some elements, such as trapezoids, require
additional steps). The Attributes tab opens in the Control Panel. This tab
shows element-specific parameters.
You can change these settings to adjust the properties of the geometric
element.
4 Once you have finished drawing, switch back to the Select tool by clicking the
icon.
This allows you to move, erase change, rotate elements
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TIP
You can resize and rotate already drawn shapes/elements.
 To toggle between resizing and rotating, click once into the element/shape.
The marks around the element/shape change accordingly from for
resizing to for rotating and vice versa.
 Move the cursor above one of the resize/rotate marks. The cursor will
change accordingly. Then, click and drag with the mouse.
5.2.1.3 Setting the Exposure/Milling Parameters
Now that you have drawn geometric elements on the background image, you have
to assign scanning and exposure parameters to the created elements.
In Live Mode, you can choose between setting parameters for the whole layer and
exclusive parameters for single geometric elements and for multi-selections. If an
element defines parameters other than none, then the layer parameters are
overwritten. To be able to understand how these settings interact, refer to section
Hierarchy of Exposure Parameter Assignment [- 31].
Prerequisite  You have created a background image
 You have drawn some geometric elements
Procedure 1 Select an element, a group of elements or a layer.
2 On the Control Panel, select the Attributes tab > Recipe.
3 Choose a recipe from the Material drop-down list.
For more information refer to Recipe [- 66].
4 You can select a different probe from the Probe drop-down list.
5 You can set depth by the input field.
6 Click Preview.
The Exposure Preview window opens. The preview shows if there are any
problems with the chosen settings. This makes it easier to find suitable
exposure settings and to learn how the various parameters interact. Once
there are no entries with red text left, you can be sure that the settings will
result in a working exposure.
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5.2.1.4 Using a Drift Correction
Drift correction is useful over long milling periods so that the effects of stage drift
or thermal effects do not cause any shift of the milling pattern. Unwanted sample
damage can be avoided hereby.
The drift correction settings determine how and how often drift correction is used.
Procedure 1 On the Control Panel, select the Attributes tab > Drift Correction.
2 Click Add.
A moveable and resizeable template appears.
3 Set the desired size and position.
4 Adjust the desired Mark Preparation settings.
5 Make sure a valid recipe file is selected for the exposure of the drift mark.
6 Click Mill Mark.
his mills a mark on the specimen surface.
7 To ensure a good signal to noise ratio in the FIB image, adjust the Image
Acquisition settings, e.g. Dwell Time = 1.60 µs.
8 If your milling process involves tilting (e.g. lamella preparation) make sure Auto
BC and Full Frame Search are checked.
9 To obtain a reference image, click Acquire Reference.
10 Set a suitable time for the correction interval.
During the milling process an image will be taken after this time interval and
compared to the reference image. Based on the differences, the drift
correction will be applied.
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5.2.1.5 Starting the Exposure/Milling Process
You have almost reached your goal: you have created a background, drawn
geometric elements and assigned exposure parameters.
Everything that remains to be done is to start the exposure.
Prerequisite  You have created a background image
 You have drawn some geometric elements
 You have set the exposure parameters
Procedure
1 On the Standard Toolbar, click the Expose icon.
On the Control Panel, the Exposure dialog opens.
2 Change the desired settings. For a detailed description of each parameter, refer
to the section Exposure [- 140].
3 Select an entry from the On End Mill: drop-down list.
This enables you to be able to see the result of the exposure process as soon
as it is finished, or to trigger an operation of the microscope.
4 To start the exposure, click Start.
The process starts and various readouts show the current status of the
exposure process.
To make sure that you can observe the exposure/milling process with the SEM,
the default selection on theOn Start Mill drop-down list is SEM.
As soon as the exposure process has finished, SmartFIB will switch to the
defined On End Mill: setting.
The default setting is SEM. The SEM image is scanning in SmartSEM when the
exposure/milling process is finished in SmartFIB.
This concludes the most basic workflow for working with SmartFIB. You can
now proceed to more complex tasks.
TIP
If you experience any issues with blurry edges of exposed elements, you can try
to select a different scanning setting in the Scanning section of the Recipe tab.
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Depending on the selected geometric elements and also their orientation, you have
to consider an appropriate scanning strategy.
The parameters Delay and Cycle Delay can also be helpful.
TIP
The nudge control function allows you to shift and rotate elements during the
exposure/milling process. You don't have to stop the whole process to do minor
corrections. This can be especially useful while preparing a TEM lamella.
 To use nudge control, activate the Nudge checkbox in the Exposure dialog
before you start the exposure.
5.2.2 Performing a Multi-Site Exposure/Milling Workflow
Requires the licence AUTOPREP.
Compared to Performing a Basic Exposure/Milling process [- 148],which only uses
Live Mode, the following example shows a very simple multi-site exposure/milling
workflow using both Live Mode and Sample Mode.
You can expand this principle to more challenging tasks.
Procedure 1 In Live Mode, draw some geometric elements as described in Creating
Shapes/Elements to be Exposed/Milled [- 149].
2 Apply a drift correction as described in Using a Drift Correction [- 151].
3 Click the Transfer to sample mode icon.
The positions are not being processed but added to the Process list called
Transferred.
4 To switch to Sample Mode, in the Tools Toolbar, click the Sample Mode
icon .
5 In the Tools Toolbar, from the Process List drop-down list, select the desired
list (e.g. Transferred).
6 In the Tools Toolbar, press the Expose icon.
7 Set the desired exposure parameters.
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Working with the Software |
5.3 Working in Live Mode
Live Mode
 Limited to one scanning area
 The background image obtained with the charged particle beam serves as
orientation
Mainly used for
 Circuit editing or creating recipes
 Target preparation at a Point Of Interest (POI) / Region Of Interest (ROI) (e.g.
TEM-lamella preparation at a specific point of the specimen)
 Analysis of one specific point of the specimen
5.3.1 Acquiring an Image
First step of a basic exposure/milling workflow is to acquire a FIB image. This image
serves as an orientation for placing geometric elements to be exposed/milled at the
right position.
You can acquire a FIB image only in Live Mode.
Procedure 1 In SmartSEM, select a proper detector (SESI or InLens).
2 Roughly approach the desired position.
3 Go to the SmartFIB user interface.
4 On the Standard Toolbar, click the Live Mode icon.
5 Select the Image Capture tab.
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6 To start the scan, click Cycle.
An image appears in the Working Area.
7 To optimize the image, adjust the scanning parameters and use a reduced
raster if necessary.
8 If the image quality is sufficient to position geometric elements with adequate
accuracy, click Capture.
5.3.2 Creating Shapes/Elements to be Exposed/Milled
Once you have acquired a FIB image in SmartFIB, you can start to create elements /
shapes by using the drawing tools on the Tools Toolbar.
Prerequisite  You have acquired a FIB image
Procedure 1 On the Tools Toolbar, select a drawing tool.
The cursor changes to match the selected shape.
2 Move to the desired position.
Click and hold down the left mouse button while moving the mouse.
A preview of the selected shape appears.
3 Release the mouse button.
This will create the desired shape (some elements, such as trapezoids, require
additional steps).
The Attributes tab opens in the Control Panel. This tab shows element-
specific parameters.
You can change these settings to adjust the properties of the geometric
element.
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4 Once you have finished drawing, switch back to the Select tool by clicking the
icon.
This allows you to move, erase change, rotate elements
TIP
You can resize and rotate already drawn shapes/elements.
 To toggle between resizing and rotating, click once into the element/shape.
The marks around the element/shape change accordingly from for
resizing to for rotating and vice versa.
 Move the cursor above one of the resize/rotate marks. The cursor will
change accordingly. Then, click and drag with the mouse.
5.3.3 Importing Layouts
To import a layout:
Procedure 1 In the Control Panel, select the Import tab.
2 Use the Volume drop-down list and the Folder list to navigate to a folder that
contains an *.ely file.
3 Choose an *.ely file.
4 Open the tree structure to the layer.
5 Select a layer entry.
6 To import, click replace or use drag&drop.
You have successfully imported a layout.
Note that ASP elements cannot be imported in SEM mode.
5.3.4 Saving Images and Layouts
To save images and layouts:
Procedure 1 Select File > Save As.
2 Confirm the selected file name or enter a new one.
The specified file extension defines what kind of data (image or layout) will be
saved.
When saving layouts, choose the file type *.ely or explicitly add the filename
extension.
To save an image chosse the corresponding file extension.
You have successfully saved an image or a layout.
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5.3.5 Using the Edge Tool
Procedure
1 On the Tools Toolbar, click the Edge Select icon.
2 Move the mouse over the edge that you want to mark.
If close enough, the vertices defining the respective edge will be highlighted.
3 Left-click to mark/unmark the edge.
If marked, the edge will be highlighted in blue (black in Designer).
4 On the Control Panel, select the Attributes tab.
5 Select the Scanning tab.
6 The scanning angles will be computed automatically such that scanning
terminates at the marked edge.
If you select a different edge, you will notice that the scanning angles change
accordingly.
7 To display the scan direction, in the Control Panel, select the Attributes tab.
8 Select the tab of the respective element type, for example Rectangle and go
the the Angles section..
TIP
If the Scanning tab disappears while changing the edge,
 Mark edges by clicking the edge with the mouse cursor being inside the
polygon as otherwise the click may be interpreted as "discard selection" or
"select layer" (which is the reason for the Scanning tab's disappearance).
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TIP
Edges can also be marked via the edge spinbutton.
 Select manual scan angle mode or unmark the edge to explicitly define scan
angles.
5.3.6 Using the Image Tool
Procedure
1 On the Tools Toolbar, click the Image icon.
2 Move cursor to insert position and click with the left mouse button.
The Designer: Load image file dialog opens.
3 Select the desired file and click Open.
The image will be inserted and its origin marked. It can be moved, scaled, and
rotated like any other geometrical element. The initial pixel spacing is assumed
to be 0.1 µm.
4 Select the Attributes tab.
5 Go to the Recipe tab.
6 From the Material: drop-down list, select Exclusive.
7 From the Purpose drop-down list, select a purpose.
8 From the Probe drop-down list, select a probe.
9 Activate the Exclusive radio button.
10 In the Details section, set the Dose: value.
11 Select the Image tab.
12 Configure the image and scanning settings.
13 To start the exposure, click the Exposure icon on the Standard Toolbar icon.
5.3.7 Using the Select-by-ID Feature
Elements defining patterning structures often lie on top of each other. Some
elements may be obscured and cannot be picked. Therefore, SmartFIB offers the
possibility to select elements by ID.
Procedure 1 On the Control Panel, select the Attributes tab.
2 To step through the elements of a layer, click the arrow buttons or
enter a value in the In-Layer Id: field.
The attributes of each drawn element will be displayed.
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5.3.8 Transferring Layouts to Sample Mode
Requires the licence AUTOPREP.
One of the key operations in SmartFIB is to transfer layouts from Live Mode to
Sample Mode. This allows you to arrange scanning areas and to perform other
tasks that are only available in Sample Mode.
Prerequisite  You have drawn some geometric elements
 Live Mode is active
Procedure
1 On the Standard Toolbar, click the Tranfer to Sample Mode icon.
The transferred positions and dwell times are indicated in the Standard Toolbar
next to the Tranfer to Sample Mode icon.
2 Verify that the geometric elements have successfully been transferred to
Sample Mode: You can find the transferred structure layer in the Process List
tab > Transferred.
3 To start the exposure of the transferred layouts, switch to sample mode .
Working with the Software |
5.4 Working in Sample Mode
Sample Mode
 Allows you to process multiple scanning areas e.g. of different size and to
position them on the specimen
 The focus is on the layout-oriented approach
Mainly used for
 Recurring/automated workflows
 Combination of different structuring processes: If the specimen has been
modified before, there is also information given (e.g. Lithography)
 CAD layout navigation
 Documentation of processes and specimens (which steps were carried out?
Repeatability)
Simulation of complex processes also possible in offline mode
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5.4.1 Performing a Sample Adjustment
After loading a specimen into the specimen chamber, the absolute position and the
angle between sample coordinate system and stage system are defined.
The adjustment procedure makes it possible for the program to calculate the
coordinate transformation from the stage system to the sample system.
The Sample Adjustment dialog provides a comfortable way to acquire the real
adjustment. After this procedure, you can work with sample coordinates and you
will not have to mind any translation problems, for example when moving the
stage.
If you do not apply any sample adjustment, the first writing position will be
connected with the current stage position, the angle will be implicitly set to 0.00.
Procedure 1 Focus a point (A) at the bottom edge of the specimen.
2 On the Menu Bar, select Sample > Adjustment... .
3 Click (south) and insert the correct Y value (e.g. 0.00) in the Y: input field.
4 Click Add.
The point is added to the Positions list. All entries in this list are used for the
calculation.
5 Proceed the same way with another point (B) at the bottom edge of the
specimen.
Now the system is able to calculate the stage angle correction. The result is
displayed in the list at the bottom of the Sample Adjustment dialog.
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6 Choose a point (C) on a neighbouring edge and click (west). Insert the
correct X value (e.g. 0.00) in the X: input field.
7 Click Add.
Now, the system can calculate absolute positions. The Sample-stage system:
readout changes from not connected to connected.
For multi-site processes with different stage rotation or stage tilt the
adjustment is always in an indifferent state indicated by indifferent.
This was just a simple example to show how the Sample Adjustment dialog is
working. There are a lot of variations and the Sample Adjustment dialog is aimed
at attaining as much information as possible of your chosen set of adjustment
points and avoiding overdetermination.
5.4.2 Using the Process List
SmartFIB offers a process list. This list helps you to keep track of any steps you
made during your work with SmartFIB. This allows you to backtrack your steps
easily and to increase repeatability.
TIP
To be able to use the full functionality of the process list, the licence AUTOPREP
is required.
It allows you to transfer shapes/elements to Sample Mode and to return to
previously processed steps and positions.
TIP
You can start the exposure of the created process list without switching to
sample mode.
 Therefore just open the Process List tab, select Transferred and click
Expose.
TIP
You can add different layouts at completely different stage positions to the
Process List. While this list is is executed SmartFIB will move the stage to the
according position.

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Prerequisite  You have already created some shapes as described in Creating Shapes/
Elements to be Exposed/Milled [- 149]
Procedure u On the Control Panel, select the Process List tab.
* Prozessliste: Alle Positionen und Parameter werden gespeichert. Ohne Drift-
Korrektur. Über die Prozessliste im Live Mode kann man die Positionen nicht
anfahren. Das geht aber im Sample Mode * Prozessliste auch in Live Mode
verfügbar. * Prozessliste verwenden. Man kann einzelne Schritte raussuchen und
durch Go to die Position erneut anfahren. * Nur n Sample Mode: Prozessliste
nochmal grafisch dargestellt: Positionen die vorher im Live Mode angefahren
wurden und bei denen mal Exposure gedrückt wurde. * Man kann einzelne
Structure Layer anwählen und mit der Maus auf der Probe verschieben. * Beim
Klick auf Goto wird die Position angefahren. * Screenshot * Normalerweise
verschiebt man die Layer nicht. Hier nur als Beispiel für die verschiedenen Structure
Layer. * Wenn man mehr Prozesse machen möchte, ohne diese zu starten, geht
man in den Live Mode und
Working with the Software |
5.5 Task-Oriented Workflows
5.5.1 Creating a Simple Cross Section
Prerequisite  Electron beam has been switched on
 Ion beam has been switched on
 Specimen has been moved to the coincidence point, tilted to 54
 FIB probe currents have been adjusted
 Settings in SmartSEM: FIB mode active, 30 kV FIB, 5 kV SEM, WD at the
coincidence point
 The area of interest has been selected
Difference to Cross Section:
 Deposition is not possible.
 Just one milling step.
 Automatic proximity.
Procedure 1 Switch to Live mode and capture an image, see Acquiring an Image [- 154].
2 On the Tools Toolbar, click the Simple Cross section icon.
3 Move the cursor to the intended location of the cross section to be prepared.
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4 To create a line, click and drag with the mouse. This defines the width and
orientation of the cross section.
A preview of the cross section appears.
5 Select the Attributes tab > Simple Cross Section tab.
6 Change geometry parameters if you want.
7 Define Milling parameters.
1 Go to the Milling Steps section.
2 Select a recipe from the Material: drop-down list.
3 Select the FIB Probe for the different milling steps.
4 Adjust the other parameters as required.
8 On the Standard Toolbar, click the Exposure icon.
The Exposure dialog opens.
The estimated exposure time will be computed based on beam current.
9 Click Start.
Exposed elements will be shown normally. Elements awaiting exposure are
shown stippled. The end of exposure is indicated by a pop-up message.
10 To check the milling, change between FIB mode and SEM mode in SmartSEM
at specimen tilt 0.
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5.5.2 Creating a Cross Section
Prerequisite  Electron beam has been switched on
 Ion beam has been switched on
 Specimen has been moved to the coincidence point, tilted to 54
 Tilt eucentricity has been adjusted
 Platinum precursor has been outgassed
 FIB probe currents have been adjusted
 Settings in SmartSEM: FIB mode active, 30 kV FIB, 5 kV SEM, WD at the
coincidence point
 The area of interest has been selected
Procedure 1 Switch to Live mode and capture an image, see Acquiring an Image [- 154].
2 On the Tools Toolbar, click the Cross section icon.
3 Move the cursor to the intended location of the cross section to be prepared.
4 To create a line, click and drag with the mouse. This defines the width of the
cross section (cannot be rotated).
A preview of the cross section appears.
5 Select the Attributes tab > Cross Section tab.
6 Change Geometry parameters if you like (e.g. depth).
7 Define Deposition parameters.
1 Expand the Deposition section.
2 Select Platinum from the Material: drop-down list.
3 The protection layer should be 0.5-1.0 μm thick. Enter the desired value in
the Depo Thickness: input field or set it with the arrow buttons.
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8 Define Milling parameters.
1 Expand the Milling Steps section.
2 Select a recipe from the Material: drop-down list.
3 Select the FIB Probe for the different milling steps.
4 If necessary, adjust the Polishing Tilt.
The polishing tilt is only applied for the last milling step.
5 Adjust the other parameters as required.
If polishing tilt and milling steps are selected, a drift correction is required,
refer to Using a Drift Correction [- 151].
9 On the Standard Toolbar, click the Exposure icon.
The Exposure dialog opens.
The estimated exposure time will be computed based on beam current.
10 Click Start.
Exposed elements will be shown normally. Elements awaiting exposure are
shown stippled. The end of exposure is indicated by a pop-up message.
11 To check the milling, change between FIB mode and SEM mode in SmartSEM
at specimen tilt 0.
5.5.3 Creating a TEM Lamella
Prerequisite  Electron beam has been switched on
 Ion beam has been switched on
 Specimen has been moved to the coincidence point, tilted to 54
 Tilt eucentricity has been adjusted
 Platinum precursor has been outgassed
 FIB probe currents have been adjusted
 Settings in SmartSEM: FIB mode active, 30 kV FIB, 5 kV SEM, WD at the
coincidence point
 The area of interest has been selected
Procedure 1 Switch to Live mode and capture a FIB image, see Acquiring an Image [- 154].
2 On the Tools Toolbar, click the Lamella icon.
3 Move the cursor to the intended location of the TEM lamella to be prepared.
4 To create a line, click and drag with the mouse.
This defines the lamella's width.
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A preview of the lamella appears.
5 Select the Attributes tab > Lamella tab.
6 Change Geometry parameters if you like (e.g. depth).
7 Define Deposition parameters.
1 Expand the Deposition section.
2 Select Platinum from the Material: drop-down list.
3 The protection layer should be 0.5-1.0 μm thick. Enter the desired value in
the Depo Thickness: input field or set it with the arrow buttons.
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8 Define Milling parameters.
1 Expand the Milling Steps section.
2 Select a recipe from the Material: drop-down list.
3 Select the FIB Probe for the different milling steps.
4 If necessary, adjust the Polishing Tilt.
The polishing tilt is only applied for the last milling step.
5 Adjust the other parameters as required.
For more information refer to Lamella [- 99].
If polishing tilt and milling steps are selected, a drift correction is required,
refer to Using a Drift Correction [- 151].
9 Define Cut Out parameters.
1 Expand the Cut Out section.
2 Select a probe from the Probe: drop-down list.
The probe that has been used during the last session is set by default.
3 Adjust the Depth Tuning Factor.
4 Choose a link position.
5 Adjust the other parameters as required.
For more information refer to Lamella [- 99].
10 To save the settings, click Export .
11 On the Standard Toolbar, click the Exposure icon.
The Exposure dialog opens.
The estimated exposure time will be computed based on beam current.
12 Click Start.
Exposed elements will be shown normally. Elements awaiting exposure are
shown stippled. The end of exposure is indicated by a pop-up message.
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13 To check the milling result, change between FIB mode and SEM mode in
SmartSEM.
14 Lift out procedure:
The following steps depend on the type of micromanipulator you use. For
details refer to the instructions given by the micromanipulator manufacturer.
1 Lift out the TEM lamella.
2 Attach the TEM lamella to the TEM specimen grid.
15 Do the final polishing until the desired lamella thickness is obtained.
5.5.4 Obtaining Serial Section Images
Serial section images are a basic functionality for generating 3D datasets.
Afterwards, the data can be compiled to a 3D image using specific software (e.g.
ORS ).
SSI is a scanning mode also, which will not deliver nice depositions.
TIP
The process is based on an alternating sequence. The milling is started in SmartFIB
and repeatedly paused for image acquisition in SmartSEM.
Procedure 1 Prepare an edge from which you want to start using the cross-section Cycle
mode in Live Mode.
2 Prepare a U-shaped area around the element.
This ensures that there is no material around the element. This minimizes
shadowing effects and redeposition.
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Fig. 36: Volume of interest inside the U-Shape
3 Draw rectangle ( or trapezoid) and place on region of interest.
4 Before milling the object itself, in the Recipe tab, go to the Scanning section
and select serial-section cycle mode.
5 Set the exposure parameters. Pay attention on the scan direction: It has to
scan from bottom to top in the FIB image.
6 Switch to the SmartSEM user interface.
7 To obtain an image, use any suitable detector. You can also use dual channel
or mix detector signals.
8 To check the image save path, from the Menu bar, select Settings >
Preferences > Tools.
9 Save the image.
10 Switch back to SmartFIB and click the Expose icon.
For best results, we recommend to apply a drift correction [- 151].
TIP
Note that the DC correction interval does now mean SEM images instead of
seconds.
SmartFIB uses the path given in the Preferences to save the current SSI images. To
provide a better overview, a folder is created containing date and time.
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5.5.5 Creating a Text
Procedure
1 On the Tools Toolbar, click the Text icon.
2 Position the cursor to the intended location and click.
The Text Tool dialog opens.
3 Type your text into the text field.
4 Adjust text height and font.
5 Select the Attributes tab > Text tab.
6 Set text parameters as required.
7 Go to the Recipe tab and setup milling parameters.
Working with the Software |
5.6 Working with the Gas Injection System
The gas injection system is mainly maintained via SmartSEM but fully controlled via
SmartFIB. In SmartFIB, you can decide wether you want to use the gas injection
system and if so which gas you want to use.
TIP
To make it easier to perform the necessary steps in SmartSEM, refer to the
Software Manual SmartSEM XB "Working with the Gas Injection System (GIS,
optional)" for details.
5.6.1 Gas-Assisted Deposition
There are different applications or processes that require a deposition of a metal or
an insulator:
 Surface protection layer for cross sections or TEM lamella preparation
 Circuit modification
Deposited Material Precursor
Tungsten, W W(CO)6
Tungsten hexacarbonyl
Platinum, Pt C9H16Pt
Methyl
cyclopentadienyl(trimethyl)platinum
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Deposited Material Precursor
Insulator, SiO2 PMCPS, C5H20O6Si5
2,4,6,8,10-
Pentamethylcyclopentasiloxane
The ion beam is required to start and maintain the chemical deposition process. On
the other hand, deposition only occurs when more material is deposited than
sputtered by the ion beam.
Fig. 37: Gas assisted deposition example
5.6.1.1 Performing Gas Assisted Deposition
This procedure involves prerequisites that have to be checked in SmartSEM.
TIP
To make it easier to fulfill the prerequisites in SmartSEM, refer to the Software
Manual SmartSEM XB "Selecting deposition conditions" for details.
NOTICE
Risk of damaging the GIS micro stage or specimen
If the specimen surface is not at the coincidence point before starting the ion or
electron beam deposition or etching process, there is a risk of collision between
the GIS needle and the specimen
u Move the specimen surface to the coincidence point before starting the
deposition or etching process.
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Prerequisite  Electron beam is switched on
 FIB gun pressure is better than the threshold
 Wanted precursor gases are outgased.
 Ion beam is switched on
Procedure 1 Draw or select a geometric element [- 149].
2 On the Control Panel, select the Recipe tab.
3 Select Exclusive from the drop-down list.
4 From the Purpose drop-down list, select FIB Deposition.
5 Select a probe.
6 Go to the Details section and specify a dose.
7 Go to the GIS section, enable the Use Gas: checkbox.
8 Select Gas from the Gas drop-down list.
9 To automatically move the GIS micro stage back to the safe park position after
the deposition process, tick the Auto park checkbox.
10 If you want a pop-up message before the GIS movement, enable the
Acknowledge: checkbox.
11 Continue with Starting the Exposure/Milling Process [- 152].
5.6.2 Gas-Assisted Etching
Gas assisted etching (GAE) allows you to selectively increase etching rates
comparing to etching with the ion beam or the electron beam alone.
Etching Reagent Selectively Etches
Xenondifluoride, XeF2 Si, SiO2
Water (reactive products) Carbon, organic materials
Milling Objects Etching is done by processing a milling object, usually with the specimen stage at
54.
There are different etching types:
 Physical etching: only the ion beam is used to remove material
 Chemical etching: the ion beam and precursor gases are used to remove
material
5 Working with the Software | 5.6 Working with the Gas Injection System
Software Manual SmartFIB | en1.2 | 346000-8083-000 173
Fig. 38: Comparison between silicon etching (without gas) and gas assisted
etching (with fluorine)
Types of Etching
Physical etching
Ion milling Physical etching means that only the ion beam is used to
remove material within a selected area (1). The removed
material is re-deposited (2) at the side walls faster than it can
be pumped away. Therefore, the side walls are uneven and
the ability to mill deep holes is limited.
Chemical etching
Gas assisted
etching (GAE)
GAE means that the ion beam hits a selected area (3) on the
specimen surface and interacts with a precursor. The precursor
is split up into a volatile, inactive substance and a volatile
active substance. The inactive substance is pumped away. The
volatile active substance reacts with the substrate and
becomes a volatile compound which removes the substrate.
Using GAE improves the aspect ratio of the milled holes and
enhances the removal rate. Thus, the sidewall angles come
closer to 90 (4).
Selective etching GAE is also material-selective, because etching reagents etch
different materials (5,6) at different rates.
5 Working with the Software | 5.6 Working with the Gas Injection System
5.6.2.1 Performing Gas Assisted Etching
TIP
To make it easier to perform the necessary steps in SmartSEM, refer to the
Software Manual SmartSEM XB "Selecting etching conditions" for details.
This procedure involves prerequisites that have to be checked in SmartSEM. Refer
to the Software Manual SmartSEM XB "Selecting Etching Conditions" for details.
NOTICE
Risk of damaging the GIS micro stage or specimen
If the specimen surface is not at the coincidence point before starting the
electron beam deposition or etching process, there is a risk of collision between
the GIS needle and the specimen
u Move the specimen surface to the coincidence point before starting the
deposition or etching process.
Prerequisite  Electron beam is switched on
 FIB gun pressure is better than the threshold
 Wanted precursor gases are outgased.
 Ion beam is switched on
Procedure 1 Draw or select a geometric element [- 149].
2 On the Control Panel, select the Recipe tab.
3 Select Exclusive from the drop-down list.
4 From the Purpose drop-down list, select FIB Deposition.
5 Select a probe.
6 Go to the Details section and specify a dose.
7 Go to the GIS section, enable the Use Gas: checkbox.
8 Select Gas from the Gas drop-down list.
9 To automatically move the GIS micro stage back to the safe park position after
the deposition process, tick the Auto park checkbox.
10 If you want a pop-up message before the GIS movement, enable the
Acknowledge: checkbox.
11 Continue with Starting the Exposure/Milling Process [- 152].
5 Working with the Software | 5.6 Working with the Gas Injection System
5.6.3 Electron Beam Deposition
Depositing and etching with the electron beam is a suitable method for materials
that cannot be processed with the focused ion beam.
Another advantage is that there is no impairment of surfaces (e.g. no generation of
amorphous layers).
Precursor/gas Application
Insulator, SiO2 Deposition
Platinum, Pt Deposition
Water (reactive products) Etching of materials that contain
carbon e.g. diamond like carbon
layers (DLC)
Fluorine, XeF2 Etching of Si-containing materials
Tungsten, W Deposition
5.6.3.1 Performing Electron Beam Deposition
NOTICE
Risk of damaging the GIS micro stage or specimen
If the specimen surface is not at the coincidence point before starting the ion or
electron beam deposition or etching process, there is a risk of collision between
the GIS needle and the specimen
u Move the specimen surface to the coincidence point before starting the
deposition or etching process.
Procedure 1 In the Tools Toolbar, select SEM from the Microscope Control drop-down
list.
2 Switch to Live mode and capture a FIB image, see Acquiring an Image [- 154].
3 To perform SEM Beam current adjustment, in the toolbar, click the Measure
beam current icon.
The Measure Beam Current window opens.
4 Type in the beam current you have selected in SmartSEM. If necassary measure
it by using a Faraday Cup.
5 Draw or select a geometric element [- 149].
6 On the Control Panel, select the Recipe tab.
7 From the Materials: drop-down list, select Exclusive.
5 Working with the Software | 5.7 Working with Recipes
8 From the Purpose drop-down list, select SEM Deposition.
9 Select a probe.
10 Go to the Details section and specify a dose.
11 Go to the GIS section, enable the Use Gas: checkbox.
12 Select Gas from the Gas drop-down list.
13 To automatically move the GIS micro stage back to the safe park position after
the deposition process, tick the Auto park checkbox.
14 If you want a pop-up message before the GIS movement, enable the
Acknowledge: checkbox.
15 Continue with Starting the Exposure/Milling Process [- 152].
Working with the Software |
5.7 Working with Recipes
Recipes allow the user to run SmartFIB with preferred operating parameters.
5.7.1 Using Existing Recipes
Procedure 1 Switch to Live mode and capture a FIB image, see Acquiring an Image [- 154].
2 Draw or select a geometric element [- 149].
3 If desired, change the probe.
4 If the recipe is gauged, enter a target depth.
5 Alternatively you can change the dose factor to use a fraction or multiple of
the reference dose.
6 On the Control Panel, select the Attributes tab > Recipe Tab.
7 From the Material drop-down list, select an existing recipe.
5.7.2 Creating/Editing Recipes
Procedure 1 Draw or select a geometric element [- 149].
2 On the Control Panel, select the Attributes tab > Recipe Tab.
3 From the Material drop-down list, select an existing recipe.
4 To edit the assigned recipe, press the Edit button
It then changes to the Save button.
The input fields in the Details section become editable.
5 Set the parameters as required.
5 Working with the Software | 5.7 Working with Recipes
6 To replace the existing recipe, press the Save button , keep the same file
name and click OK.
To create a new recipe, press the Save button , type a new file name and
click on OK.
The new/edited recipe should be available from the Materials: drop-down list.
5.7.3 Creating a Recipe with Exclusive Function
The exclusive function is used to create new recipes by using default parameter
values.
Procedure 1 Draw or select a geometric element [- 149].
2 On the Control Panel, select the Attributes tab > Recipe Tab.
3 From the Material drop-down list, select Exclusive.
The parameter values are predefined.
4 To save these parameters as a new recipe, set the parameters as required and
press .
5 Working with the Software | 5.7 Working with Recipes
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we reserve the right to change specifications
without notice.
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