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Ion milling is a dry etching method used for creating thin film patterns. The process of ion milling takes place in a vacuum chamber in which ions Ar are accelerated by the ion gun towards the sample and bombard the areas of the sample uncovered by a mask. The collisions of the Ar ions with the surface of the film gradually remove surface atoms of the surface. This method is superior to wet chemical etching and lift-off process because it does not involve chemical reactions or film straining. It allows to remove of layers of materials with atomic precision and to form nano-sized patterns. 

SPECIFICATIONS AND CAPABILITIES OF ORION-8-IM

• The sample stage is water-cooled and rotatable.
• It can be tilted out of horizontal position up to vertical position.
• The sample stage can accommodate samples with linear size up to 6”.
• Samples are loaded manually through the front door.
• The maximum RF power of the ion gun is 600 W. The tuning of the gun power is manual.
• The maximum etching rates depend on the material and are typically in the range from 0.1 to 1 nm/s.
• All kinds of materials can be etched.
• Samples containing toxic materials are prohibited.
• Table of the etching rates for different materials is provided.
• Different non-toxic gases e.g. O2, Ar, N2 can be used for ion milling (Ar is the most common).
• The pumping system consists of a dry diaphragm backup pump and the turbomolecular pump with the pumping speed of 700 l/s (Pfeiffer Vacuum)

Sample Data