Get started in FIB circuit edit with tips from professionals

As advances in semiconductor processes and architectures lead to increasingly dense chips with smaller features and advanced packaging, those chips become more difficult to inspect, measure, and test. This makes focused ion beam (FIB) circuit editing, which can repair flawed devices without the cost and delay of a mask re-spin, even more valuable to help rapidly prototype, avoid delays, and optimize product performance and functionality.

While circuit editing is a well-established technique, it can be especially difficult for those who are new to it. To help you get started, we asked our circuit edit customers what they wish they had known when they started doing FIB circuit edit and collected their feedback, as well as input from our team of experts, in our new eBook: Fundamentals of Circuit Edit.

The eBook includes:

  • A definition of circuit edit
  • An overview of focused ion beams
  • Circuit edit tips from experienced practitioners
  • Descriptions of key circuit edit tools and solutions
FIB circuit edit eBook excerpts

Tips from the experts: fundamentals

At Thermo Fisher Scientific, we’re fortunate to have experienced circuit editors among our customers and as part of our internal team. While developing this eBook, we reached out and asked, “What do you wish you had known sooner when you started doing circuit editing?” In all cases, the answers were down-to-earth and practical.

Wish #1: a better sense of the underlying skills

Successful circuit editing is built upon two skills: proficiency with ion beam technology and an understanding of the chemistries that can be applied using a gas injection system (GIS). You may be coming at this with experience in one area, both areas, or neither. The good news is that it is relatively straightforward to add GIS knowledge to FIB, or vice versa.

If you are new to both, we suggest starting with the development of FIB skills because they are the key to pinpointing, imaging, and manipulating the target area to be edited. Next, develop proficiency with the positioning of gas nozzles and the application of the necessary chemistry

Complete the form below to download your copy of the Fundamentals of Circuit Edit eBook