Nowadays focused ion beam (FIB) is a very popular and adequate patterning technique for relatively small operations on individual chips on a wafer as a direct write "resistless" patterning. Traditionally FIB patterning is based on material removal by ion sputtering down to the nanoscale. Usually a focused gallium ion beam having a kinetic energy typically around 30keV is scanned over the sample surface to create a pattern via topographical modification, deposition or sputtering. In such cases for most materials, the material removal rate for a 30keV gallium ion is around 1-10 atoms per incident ion, corresponding to a machining rate of around 0.1-1μm{sup}3 per nC of incident ions.
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