Advanced focused ion beam methods for prototyping and analytical applications

Abstract

Focused ion beam (FIB) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) became indispensable tools for material science, nanotechnology and natural sciences, including various aspects of analytical chemistry. Maskless prototyping and 3D structuring with high accuracy as well as the advantage of serial sectioning and imaging of sample volumes, which provides structural information in three dimensions, leads to a wide-spread use of FIB/SEM systems. The thesis encompasses application and development of advanced focused ion beam methods combined with scanning electron microscopy towards solving analytical problems within the fields of chemistry, material science and cell biology. It is divided in two major parts: the acquisition and evaluation of FIB/SEM tomographic datasets and strategies for advanced FIB/SEM prototyping.