Focused particle beam nano-machining: the next evolution step towards simulation aided process prediction

During the last decade, focused ion beam processing has been developed from traditionally used Ga + liquid ion sources towards higher resolution gas field ion sources (He + and Ne + ). Process simulations not only improve the fundamental understanding of the relevant ion–matter interactions, but also enable a certain predictive power to accelerate advances. The historic ‘gold’ standard in ion–solid simulations is the SRIM/TRIM Monte Carlo package released by Ziegler, Ziegler and Biersack 2010 Nucl. Instrum. Methods B 268 [http://ift.tt/1yb3DDW] 1818–23 . While SRIM/TRIM is very useful for a myriad of applications, it is not applicable for the understanding of the nanoscale evolution associated with ion beam nano-machining as the substrate does not evolve with the sputtering process. As a solution for this problem, a new, adapted simulation code is briefly overviewed and finally addresses these contributi...

Harald Plank

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