METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR THE AUTOMATED PROCESS OF IN-SITU LIFT-OUT

摘要

An apparatus for performing automated in-situ lift-out of a sample (150) from a specimen (125) includes a computer (100) having a memory with computer-readable instructions, a stage (120) for a specimen (125) and a nano-manipulator (130). The stage (120) and the nano-manipulator (130) are controlled by motion controllers (110) connected to the computer (100). The nano-manipulator (130) has a probe tip (140) for attachment to samples (150) excised from the specimen (125). The computer-readable instructions include instructions to cause the stage motion controllers (110) and the nano-manipulator motion controllers (110), as well as an ion-beam source (170), to automatically perform in-situ lift-out of a sample (150) from the specimen (125).