Focused ion beam built-up on scanning electron microscopy with increased milling precision

In this work, a focused ion beam (FIB)-scanning electron microscopy (SEM) dual beam system was successfully built by integrating a FIB column and a graphics generator onto a SEM. Real-time observation can be realized by SEM during the process of FIB milling. All kinds of graphics at nanoscale regime, such as lines, characters, and pictures, were achieved under the control of graphics generator. Moreover, the FIB milling line width can be reduced nearly 27% by the introduction of simultaneous electron beam, and a line width as small as 10 nm was achieved. The numerical analysis indicates that the significant improvement on line width is induced by the Coulomb interaction between the electrons and ions.