On the influence of the sputtering in determining the resolution of a scanning ion microscope

The determination of the quality of an imaging system is not an easy task for, in general, at least three parameters, strictly interdependent, concur in defining it: resolution, contrast, and signal-to-noise ratio. The definition of resolution itself in scanning microscopy is elusive and the case of scanning ion microscopy is complicated by the...

Sputtering limits versus signal-to-noise limits in the observation of Sn balls in a Ga+ microscope

In principle, a scanning ion microscope can produce smaller probe sizes than a scanning electron microscope because the diffraction contribution is smaller. However, the imaging resolution is often severely limited by the sputtering damage. In this article, an experimental procedure to establish the limit of a focused ion beam system for imaging...