Three Dimensional Imaging of Microelectronic Devices Using a CrossBeam FIB

Increased insight into the internal structure of microelectronic devices can be achieved through the use of three dimensional (3D) imaging based on image stacks of serial sections obtained with a combined electron and ion beam (CrossBeam) FIB. This study describes how such data can be collected and presented, some of the factors that need to be optimized to get the best images, and the limitations of the method. It can be viewed as a first step in the emerging area of high resolution 3D microscopy, a technique that can lead to more accurate characterization of the shapes of internal structures and their interconnectivity at the nanoscale.