A method for creating a tomography sample from a sample substrate, comprising: (a) identifying a target area and underlying target volume of the substrate containing a region of interest; (b) creating a mill pattern based on the target area and a desired sample pillar height and radius; (c) with a focused ion beam milling a crater asymmetrically positioned around the target area to form a cylindrical sample pillar containing the target volume, (i) the crater large enough to allow a single FIB cut at a desired angle from vertical with respect to the sample pillar orientation to pass within the crater and cut the sample pillar free from the substrate, (ii) the crater having a first depth on a cutting side of the sample pillar of at least the desired sample pillar height and a second, larger, depth opposite the cutting side, the second depth large enough to accommodate the opposite end of the single FIB cut to leave the sample pillar detached after the single FIB cut, the crater having first gap between the sample pillar and the crater edge on the cutting side and a second gap, substantially smaller than the first gap, opposite the cutting side; (d) attaching a probe tip of probe to the sample pillar; (e) cutting the pillar free with the single FIB cut at the desired angle; and (f) using the probe to move the sample pillar to a sample holder. (a) identifying a target area and underlying target volume of the substrate containing a region of interest; (b) creating a mill pattern based on the target area and a desired sample pillar height and radius; (c) with a focused ion beam milling a crater asymmetrically positioned around the target area to form a cylindrical sample pillar containing the target volume, (i) the crater large enough to allow a single FIB cut at a desired angle from vertical with respect to the sample pillar orientation to pass within the crater and cut the sample pillar free from the substrate, (ii) the crater having a first depth on a cutting side of the sample pillar of at least the desired sample pillar height and a second, larger, depth opposite the cutting side, the second depth large enough to accommodate the opposite end of the single FIB cut to leave the sample pillar detached after the single FIB cut, the crater having first gap between the sample pillar and the crater edge on the cutting side and a second gap, substantially smaller than the first gap, opposite the cutting side; (i) the crater large enough to allow a single FIB cut at a desired angle from vertical with respect to the sample pillar orientation to pass within the crater and cut the sample pillar free from the substrate, (ii) the crater having a first depth on a cutting side of the sample pillar of at least the desired sample pillar height and a second, larger, depth opposite the cutting side, the second depth large enough to accommodate the opposite end of the single FIB cut to leave the sample pillar detached after the single FIB cut, the crater having first gap between the sample pillar and the crater edge on the cutting side and a second gap, substantially smaller than the first gap, opposite the cutting side; (d) attaching a probe tip of probe to the sample pillar; (e) cutting the pillar free with the single FIB cut at the desired angle; and (f) using the probe to move the sample pillar to a sample holder.