Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A method of extracting a microscopic sample from a substrate, comprising:directing an ion beam at a substantially normal angle to the substrate surface along a first path, said first path defining a substantially complete perimeter around a sample, to produce a trench in the substrate;directing the ion beam at a substantially normal angle to the substrate surface along a second path, the second path defining a substantially complete perimeter around the sample and overlapping but offset from the first path essentially along the entire perimeter to enlarge the trench around the sample; anddirecting the ion beam at a substantially non-normal angle to the substrate to undercut the sample and free the sample from the substrate. 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising attaching a probe to the sample. 3. The method of claim 2 in which attaching a probe to the sample includes attaching a probe to the sample after the directing the ion beam from an angle to intersect the gap to free the sample. 4. The method of claim 1 in which:directing an ion beam normal to the substrate includes directing a beam having a shape in which the current density decreases in the direction of outer diameter of the beam to make a cut having sloping sidewalls; anddirecting the ion beam normal to the substrate surface along a second path, inward of an overlapping the first path including directing the ion beam so that at least a portion of the ion beam impacts on the sloping sidewalls. 5. The method of claim 1 in which:directing an ion beam normal to the substrate surface includes directing an ion beam in a first circular path; anddirecting the ion beam along a second path includes directing the ion beam along a second circular path, the second circular path having a radius essentially concentric with the first circular path. 6. A method of extracting a microscopic sample from a substrate, the method comprising:directing a beam in a path to perform a series of overlapping cuts completely around the perimeter of a region of intrest containing a sample to be extracted and moving progressively toward the sample to be extracted to produce a trench around the sample, a portion of the trench becoming deeper in the direction toward the sample;severing the base of the sample; andremoving the sample. 7. The method of claim 6 in which directing a beam in a path to perform a series of overlapping cuts moving progressively toward a sample including directing a focused ion beam. 8. A method of extracting a microscopic sample, the method comprising:cutting a trench essentially completely around an area of interest including the sample by beam milling around the perimeter of the sample in a at least one continuous pass so that the sample is essentially freed on all sides except the bottom; andundercutting the sample to free it from the substrate. 9. The method of claim 8 in which the cutting a trench includes making multiple offset, overlapping passes with a focused ion beam. 10. The method of claim 8 in which the cutting a trench includes moving a focused ion beam continuously around the perimeter of the sample making multiple offset, overlapping cuts without changing the beam angle, energy, current, current density, or diameter. 11. The method of claim 10 in which undercutting the sample to free it from the substrate comprises reducing the angle between the beam and the substrate, directing the beam at the base of the sample, milling away substrate material until the sample is freed from the substrate. 12. The method of claim 8 in which the cutting a trench includes cutting a trench that is wider than the sample. 13. The method of claim 8 in which the bottom of the trench becomes progressively deeper toward the sample. 14. A system for extracting a sample from a substrate, comprising:a sample stage for supporting the substrate;an ion beam source for producing a sub-micrometer diameter ion beam, the beam having a non-uniform distribution for producing sloping sidewalls on the substrate; anda controller programmed to control the ion beam source and the stage to carry out the method of claim 1. 15. The system of claim 14 further comprising a micromanipulator adapted to moving a probe to support and manipulate the sample. 16. A system for extracting a sample from a substrate, comprising:a beam source for producing a sub-micrometer diameter beam capable of milling a hole in a substrate, the beam having a non-uniform distribution for producing sloping sidewalls on the substrate; anda controller for controlling the movement of the beam relative to the substrate, the controller being programmed to make a series of overlapping cuts completely around the sample and moving inward toward the sample,the overlapping cuts being of increasing depth and creating a trench around the sample. 17. The system of claim 16 in which the controller is also programmed to control the beam to undercut and free the sample. 18. The system of claim 16 in which the controller is also programmed to tilt the beam or a sample stage before directing the beam to undercut and free the sample. 19. A method of extracting a microscopic sample from a substrate, the method comprising:defining a sample section to be extracted on a substrate;directing a charged particle beam at the substrate surface at a first angle with respect to the substrate surface and then milling the substrate surface by directing a charged particle beam along a substantially complete perimeter around the sample section in one continuous pass in order to form a trench around the sample section;directing a charged particle beam at sample section at a second angle with respect to the substrate surface, and then milling the sample section in order to sever the base of the sample section from the substrate; andremoving the sample section from the substrate. 20. The method of claim 19 in which milling the substrate surface by directing a charged particle beam along a substantially complete perimeter around the sample section in order to form a trench around the sample section comprises:milling the substrate surface by directing a charged particle beam in a first path along a substantially complete perimeter around the sample section in order to form a trench with sloping sidewalls around the sample section;milling the substrate by directing a charged particle beam in a second path along a substantially complete perimeter around the sample section to enlarge the trench around the sample, the cut produced by the second path overlapping the cut produced by the first path but offset toward the sample section so that the charged particle beam directed in the second path impacts on the sloping sidewall produced by the previous beam path. 21. The method of claim 19 in which milling the substrate surface by directing a charged particle beam along a substantially complete perimeter around the sample section in order to form a trench around the sample section comprises:milling the substrate surface by directing a charged particle beam in a first path along a substantially complete perimeter around the sample section in order to form a trench around the sample section;enlarging said trench by directing a charged particle beam in a second path along a substantially complete perimeter around the sample section so that the beam position in the second path overlaps the beam position in the first path toward the sample section. 22. The method of claim 19 in which milling the substrate surface by directing a charged particle beam along a substantially complete perimeter around the sample section in order to form a trench around the sample section comprises:milling the substrate surface by directing a charged particle beam in a first path along a substantially complete perimeter around the sample section in order to form a trench around the sample section, said trench having an interior sidewall closest to the sample section;milling the substrate by directing a charged particle beam in a second path along a substantially complete perimeter around the sample section to enlarge the trench around the sample, the second path offset from the first path toward the sample section so that the charged particle beam directed in the second path impacts on the interior sidewall of said trench. 23. The method of claim 19 in which directing a charged particle beam at the substrate surface at a first angle with respect to the substrate surface comprises directing the charged particle beam at the substrate surface at a substantially normal angle with respect to the substrate surface. 24. The method of claim 23 in which said second angle is 10° to 80° with respect to the substrate surface. 25. The method of claim 19 in which said second angle is less than said first angle. 26. The method of claim 19 in which milling the substrate surface by directing a charged particle beam along a substantially complete perimeter around the sample section in order to form a trench around the sample section comprises directing the charged particle beam along a substantially complete perimeter in a series of overlapping cuts moving progressively toward the sample section in order to form a trench around the sample section. 27. The method of claim 19 in which:directing a charged particle beam at the substrate surface comprises directing a charged particle beam at the substrate surface, said charged particle beam having a beam diameter; anddirecting a charged particle beam along a substantially complete perimeter around the sample section comprises directing the charged particle beam in a series of two or more circular paths forming a perimeter around the sample section so that the beam path describes a series of concentric circles of diminishing diameter, the difference in diameter of successive circular paths being smaller than the beam diameter. 28. The method of claim 19 further comprising thinning the sample by milling with the charged particle beam. 29. The method of claim 28 in which said thinning step is performed after milling the substrate surface by directing a charged particle beam along a substantially complete perimeter around the sample section in order to form a trench around the sample section and before milling the sample section in order to sever the base of the sample section from the substrate. 30. The method of claim 19 in which directing a charged particle beam at sample section at a second angle with respect to the substrate surface, and then milling the sample section in order to sever the base of the sample section from the substrate comprises;shaping the sample section with a charged particle beam;tilting the sample; anddirecting a charged particle beam at the sample section base in order to undercut the sample section and free the sample section from the substrate. 31. A method of extracting a microscopic sample from a substrate, comprising:directing an ion beam at a substantially normal angle to the substrate surface along a first path substantially along a complete perimeter around a sample section to produce a trench in the substrate, wherein the ion beam is directed along the first path in one continuous pass around the sample perimeter without reversing the direction of the ion beam;directing the ion beam at a substantially normal angle to the substrate surface along a second path. wherein the ion beam is directed along the second path in one continuous pass around the sample perimeter without reversing the direction of the ion beam, the second path overlapping but offset inwardly toward the sample section from the first path essentially along the entire perimeter to enlarge the trench around the sample; anddirecting the ion beam at a substantially non-normal angle to the substrate to undercut the sample and free the sample from the substrate.