August 04, 2008 02:30 PM Eastern Time 

Argon Ion Column Extends ZEISS NVision Product Family

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--To enable the production of highly polished TEM lamellas, Carl Zeiss SMT now offers an additional Argon ion beam column to its successful NVison 40 CrossBeam workstation.

Highly polished TEM lamellas are a prerequisite for successful analysis of specimens in a transmission electron microscope. The new low-energy Argon ion column in the NVision 40 CrossBeam workstation allows the fabrication of supreme sample quality by enabling almost complete removal of surface damage that typically occurs during the initial FIB milling steps. With this “supreme milling” method, unprecedented TEM lamella quality is achieved enabling quantitative atomic resolution characterization of samples. By employing the new triple beam technology, time consuming and cost-intensive additional polishing processes in auxiliary tools become obsolete.

Two dedicated products

The new NVision 40 Argon will be available in two dedicated models:

• a process oriented, high-throughput version dedicated to routine TEM sample preparation for semiconductor customers;
• a multi purpose versatile version for the highest demands in processing and analytics applications in materials science and the semiconductor lab.

The Argon ion column is retrofittable to existing NVision 40 workstations.

NVision 40 Argon is a joint product of Carl Zeiss SMT Nano Technology System division and its Japanese partner SII Nano Technology.

About Carl Zeiss SMT

As the global leader in innovative lithography optics, as well as optical and particle-beam based inspection, analysis and measuring systems, Carl Zeiss SMT opens up new avenues for its customers in industrial manufacturing environments, quality assurance and industrial and academic R&D. Decades of market leadership are based on the success of its leading know-how in light, electron and ion-optical technologies. Together with its subsidiaries in Germany, England, France and the USA, the international group of companies has more than 2,400 employees. In fiscal year 2006/07, Carl Zeiss SMT AG generated revenues of over EUR 1 billion. Carl Zeiss SMT AG is a wholly owned subsidiary of Carl Zeiss AG. For further information, see: www.smt.zeiss.com.