Focused Ion Beam (FIB)

Focused ion beam (FIB) instruments direct a tightly focused beam of gallium or other ions to mill, cut, and deposit material with nanometer precision, and are often combined with a scanning electron microscope in dual-beam systems. As a hard skill it requires selecting mill currents for bulk removal versus fine polishing, preparing site-specific TEM lamellae, and using gas-injection systems for platinum or carbon deposition. Battery researchers use FIB to prepare electron-transparent cross-sections of battery interfaces, remove material from specific regions of interest on cycled electrodes, and observe crack propagation and dendrite morphology at nanometer scale.

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