Characterisation of nanoporous materials using Focused Ion Beam milling method

Focused Ion Beam (FIB) is generally used for machining of solid and bulk materials. However, new applications such as FIB nanotomography of nanoporous surfaces require sputtering yield characterisation. This paper presents the study of the FIB sputtering yield of Ga⁺ on nanoporous catalyst layers (CL) of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) based on analytical calculations and SEM stereo imaging experiments. It is shown that a porosity of around 50% has a significant effect (approximately 400%) on the sputtering yield of materials.