Patent ID: 9082587
Filing Date: 2015-07-14
Classification: G01N,H01J

Abstract:
1. A method for forming a polished facet between an edge and a first face of a sample, the sample comprising a first face bounded by the edge, and the first face comprising a device layer, the method comprising removing a first portion of the sample by directing an ion beam onto the edge adjacent the first portion along an ion beam axis to form the polished facet and such that ion beam does not impinge onto the exterior of the first face, wherein the ion beam axis lies on an ion beam plane oriented at a glancing incident angle from 1° to 30° to a sample plane defined by and parallel to the first face, and wherein the ion beam is directed to flow from the edge towards the first face in a manner such that ions of the ion beam cross the plane of the first face from a space originally occupied by the sample, to a space unoccupied by the sample above the first face and therefore would impinge on a back of the first face if not for the presence of the first portion of the sample, removed by the ion beam to form the polished facet.