To date, nano- and micro-structuring has commonly been implemented by a combination of specifically optimized processes of electron-beam lithography and reactive ion etching, thus limiting the range of materials that can be structured to only a few. In this talk we will introduce focused ion beam (FIB) milling as an emerging technology that enables fast, reliable and well-controlled nanometer-size feature definition. Since the method involves physical removal of material by a beam of ions, the technique can be adapted and optimized almost for any material system. We will introduce the technique and discuss the basic application areas. In particular, we have investigated the impact of parameters such as ion beam current, dwell time, scanning strategy, and dielectric charging. We will discuss strategies to optimize the nano-structuring processes that are strongly dependent on the geometry of the desired structure. Finally, we will report our recent results on utilization and optimization of the focused ion beam technique for fabrication of nano-structures in integrated photonic devices on several material platforms such as Si, Al2O3, Y2O3, Sc2O3, and KY(WO4)2.
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