Zeiss is using a free webinar to sell semiconductor failure-analysis teams on the Crossbeam 750, a focused ion beam scanning electron microscope aimed at the unglamorous but critical job of preparing tiny samples without wrecking the evidence.
The company says the system is built for difficult TEM lamella preparation, tomography, advanced nanofabrication and atom probe tomography-ready lift-out. Those are workflows where a bad cut, excess ion damage or late endpoint call can send engineers back to the beginning. Zeiss claims the Crossbeam 750 is meant to reduce that rework by letting users keep SEM visibility while the FIB is milling.
The pitch centers on low-kV FIB finishing for leading-edge semiconductor analysis. Zeiss says lower-voltage FIB operation helps produce more precise lamellae, while continuous feedback during milling lets operators decide earlier when to stop. That is the practical issue: at the scale modern chip teams care about, the instrument is not just removing material, it is deciding whether the next TEM image is useful or a waste of schedule.
What Zeiss says is different
According to Zeiss, the Crossbeam 750 combines a Gemini 4 SEM objective lens, a double deflector and a newer scan generator. The company attributes the claimed gains in image quality and process confidence to that hardware stack.
Zeiss says the result is higher resolution, improved signal-to-noise ratio, a larger usable field of view and shorter acquisition times. Those are company claims, not independent benchmark results, and the webinar description does not provide comparative test data or sample images for readers to evaluate.
The main demo is a mode Zeiss calls HDR Mill + SEM. The company describes it as an interwoven SEM and FIB scanning approach that cuts down background generated by the ion beam. In plain terms, Zeiss is claiming the SEM image remains clean enough during milling that an operator can see what is happening and adjust the FIB pattern live, instead of stopping, checking, correcting and milling again.
Zeiss says that should support more confident endpointing, uninterrupted FIB milling and surfaces suitable for metrology with minimal sample damage. The “minimal damage” part is doing a lot of work here, as it usually does in FIB marketing. The webinar may show how Zeiss defines and measures that claim.
Who the webinar is for
Zeiss is aiming the session at semiconductor failure analysts, yield teams and materials scientists. The company says the workflow is intended to shorten the path from sample to TEM, improve first-pass success and make turnaround times more predictable at low kV.
The webinar registration page is available here. Zeiss says the session will include a demonstration of the Crossbeam 750 and its SEM-guided milling workflow.
This story draws on original reporting from IEEE Spectrum.
