Development of test bed system for high melting temperature alloy fabrication and mass spectroscopy analysis of liquid metal ion beam source

Recent advances in microlithography with focused ion beam (FIB) systems for submicron integrated circuit fabrication, and the important role of liquid metal ion source (LMIS) in FIB systems to produce a stable ion beam current of selected specie, require a test bed system capable of testing, analyzing, and fabricating a variety of alloy sources. Most fabrication of alloy sources require a contaminant‐free environment, therefore wetting and fabricating of the alloy for LMIS must be carried out in high vacuum at a pressure of 10⁻⁷ Torr or lower. The development of a high‐vacuum LMIS test bed system capable of fabricating high melting temperature alloys for FIB system as well as testing the sources are described in detail. The mass spectra of remelted alloys of Cu₃P, Pd₇₃B₂₇, and Pt₅₈B₄₂ show no nitrogen or oxygen contamination during alloy fabrication process.