April 6, 2009: Carl Zeiss SMT has introduced its newly developed AURIGA CrossBeam (FIB-SEM) workstation.

As one of the pioneers in developing this class of instruments, and with more than 8 years of FIB-SEM experience, the company incorporated a huge number of innovations in the new AURIGA, Carl Zeiss said in a news release.

“Useful information about a sample goes far beyond just high resolution surface images,” Thomas Albrecht, director of product management, said in a news release. “We focused on two major tasks during the development of this powerful new instrument: First to make possible the analysis of a never-before-seen variety of samples, and second to enable customers to obtain the maximum information possible from each sample. AURIGA — delivering much more than just an image — is the result of this quest.”

The AURIGA has a completely redesigned vacuum chamber, which now includes a total of 15 ports for different detectors. The heart of the workstation is the GEMINI FE-SEM column. Its special in-lens EsB detector offers images with excellent material contrast. Additionally the design of the GEMINI column enables the analysis of magnetic samples. A feature unique to CrossBeam workstations from Carl Zeiss is simultaneous milling and high-resolution SEM imaging. To insure optimal customer support, AURIGA incorporates a new high-resolution FIB with a top level resolution of 2.5nm and better. Advanced gas processing technology for ion and e-beam assisted etching and deposition completes the sample processing capabilities of this new instrument.

Carl Zeiss’ new AURIGA highly flexible CrossBeam workstation delivers information beyond resolution. (Business Wire Photo)