Atmosphere Isolation Sample Holder for FIB-SEM Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a lack of techniques to maintain an isolated atmosphere during the transfer of highly reactive lithium ion battery materials between focused-ion-beam processing devices (FIB) and scanning electron microscopes (SEM), which are essential for preventing moisture and oxygen exposure.
Innovation Solution
A sample device with a sample exchanger and atmosphere isolation sample holder that maintains an isolated atmosphere, allowing for the transfer, processing, and observation of samples without exposure to external air, using a lid mechanism to ensure the sample is kept in a vacuum or inert gas environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the sample is transferred between FIB and SEM using conventional methods, then the transfer process is simple and fast, but the sample is exposed to atmospheric air causing reaction with moisture and oxygen
Solution Approach 1:
The sample transfer system is divided into separate atmospheric zones: the FIB chamber atmosphere, the SEM chamber atmosphere, and the transfer chamber atmosphere. The transfer chamber is segmented into a loading side (communicating with FIB), a transfer path, and an unloading side (communicating with SEM), allowing independent atmospheric control in each zone to protect the sample from atmospheric exposure during transfer.
Solution Approach 2:
The transfer chamber acts as an intermediary atmosphere isolation zone between the FIB and SEM chambers. This intermediate chamber maintains a controlled atmosphere (vacuum or inert gas) during the entire transfer process, serving as a protective mediator that prevents direct exposure of the sample to atmospheric air while enabling transfer between the two analytical chambers.
2Ease of operation
If the lid is kept on the sample holder during transfer, then the sample is protected from atmospheric air, but the sample cannot be loaded or unloaded
Solution Approach 1:
The lid is attached to the sample holder in advance within the loading chamber under protected atmosphere conditions. The sample holder with the pre-attached lid is then transferred as a sealed unit through the transfer chamber to the unloading chamber, where the lid is removed only after the holder is positioned. This preliminary attachment ensures the sample is protected from atmospheric exposure throughout the transfer process while enabling easy loading and unloading operations.
3Reliability
If the atmosphere is isolated during sample transfer, then highly active materials like Li can be handled safely, but the device structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The transfer chamber is designed as a multi-functional unit that can maintain different atmospheric conditions (vacuum or inert gas) and serve multiple purposes: transferring samples between chambers, providing atmospheric isolation, and accommodating different sample holder types. This universal design achieves reliable sample protection without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a sample device for a charged particle beam, which facilitates the delivery of a sample between an FIB and an SEM in an isolated atmosphere. An atmosphere isolation unit 10 for putting a lid 9 on an atmosphere isolation sample holder 7 isolated from the air and taking the lid 9 off the sample holder, is provided in a sample exchanger 5 that communicates with a sample chamber 4 of the FIB 1 or the SEM through a gate; and the lid 9 is taken off only by pushing a sample exchange bar 11, and thereby only the sample holder 7 is set in the sample chamber 4. The sample is loaded in the atmosphere isolation sample holder 7 in an atmosphere isolated from the air, for example, in a vacuum, and then the sample is isolated from the outside air by putting the lid 9 on the sample holder; the sample can be processed and observed in the FIB 1 or the SEM only by pushing the sample exchange bar 11 in this state, and further, when the sample exchange bar 11 is pulled out, by putting the rid of the sample holder in the atmosphere isolation unit 10, the state of isolation between the sample and the outside air.