Nanoscale Focused Ion Beam from Laser-cooled Lithium Atoms

Published

October 26, 2011

Author(s)

Brenton J. Knuffman, Adam V. Steele, Jon Orloff, Jabez J. McClelland

Abstract

To advance the capabilities of focused ion beam (FIB) technology, we have created a low-energy FIB from photoionized lithium atoms collected in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). This magneto-optical trap ion source relies on both the low temperature of the laser-cooled atoms and the small energy spread of the resultant beam to form a nanoscale ion probe at its focus. We present examples of microscopy with lithium ions obtained by scanning the FIB and collecting the resulting secondary electrons. The size of the beam focus has been characterized with a rise distance measurement to be d_{25/75} = 26.7 +/- 1.0 nm at a beam energy of 2 keV. We have also characterized the focal size as a function of temperature of atoms in the MOT and beam energy.

Citation

New Journal of Physics

Volume

13

Issue

10

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

MOTIS, FIB, focused ion beam, laser cooling, magneto-optical trap, ion source, nanotechnology, microscopy

Citation

Knuffman, B. , Steele, A. , Orloff, J. and McClelland, J. (2011), Nanoscale Focused Ion Beam from Laser-cooled Lithium Atoms, New Journal of Physics, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=908114 (Accessed October 7, 2025)