Analysis and metrology with a focused helium ion beam

The newly introduced ORION™ helium ion microscope has been used for high resolution imaging and nanofabrication. More recently, an energy sensitive detector has been developed that permits the measurement of the energy spectrum of the backscattered helium ions. The spectra can be analyzed directly or compared with the simulated spectra from hypothetical models of the specimen. The technique can provide information about the elemental composition of the specimen or structural information (for example, layer thickness) of the specimen.