Ion Beam Milling
The most important application of FIB is to mill into samples: the accelerated ions attack the sample surface, remove the atoms from the material with controlled dwell time and dose, therefore a volume is taken away from the sample revealing a section in depth which is ready to be imaged and analysed.
Due to this nature, the removed material from the sample cannot be restored. Besides, gallium implants into the sample may occur during the milling process which should be made aware of in case of sensitive materials.
With the milling capability of FIB, in-depth structures are exposed which cannot be seen from the top surface.