In-situ observation of focused ion beam micromilled Si, SiO/sub 2/ and GaAs

A focused ion beam (FIB) interface attached to a column of 200 keV transmission electron microscope (TEM) was developed for in-situ micropatterning to semiconductors. TEM specimens of Si, SiO/sub 2/ and GaAs were micromilled in the TEM during observation. Several figures were patterned with a 25 keV Ga/sup +/-FIB of 0.2 /spl mu/m beam diameter at room temperature. The effect of FIB irradiation on the structural changes was observed simultaneously by a TV-rate video camera and sequentially by regular films. FIB micropatterning to semiconductor specimens caused amorphization and Ga injection. The excess Ga in the specimens precipitated as metastable solid /spl gamma/-phase for Si and as liquid phase for GaAs.