Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a moving force in the nanotechnological revolution. Focused ion beam microscopes (FIB) have also become potent in nanotechnology and their combination with SEM have shown the power of such on-line combinations.  We describe in this paper the transparent integration in SEM/FIB of another enabling imaging & sensing technology, scanning probe microscopy (SPM).  This is accomplished without affecting any detectors, injectors, analyzers or obscuring the sample stage of such twin beam systems.  The transparent combination is accomplished so that the probe does not obscure the election/ion beam axis and also sits at the eucentric point.  This permits the SPM to rotate into position when either the electron or ion beam is in place for standard normal operation relative to the sample surface.  Such a Triple BeamTM combination is a disruptive technology affecting the potential of both electron, ion and scanned probe applications.  It will be shown that it is now possible to rapidly place an SPM probe at a nanometric position within a large field of view to provide for ultrahigh resolution protocols unavailable in a SEM or FIB such as nanometric Z imaging or regions of charging in a sample.

On-line scanned probe microscopy transparently integrated with twin SEM/FIB systems

244th National Meeting (2012)

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