Recent developments in micromilling using focused ion beam technology

The application of focused ion beam (FIB) technology in microfabrication has become increasingly popular. Its use in microfabrication has advantages over contemporary photolithography or other micromachining technologies, such as small feature resolution, the ability to process without masks and being accommodating for a variety of materials and geometries. An overview of the recent development in FIB microfabrication technology is given. The emphasis will be on direct milling, or maskless techniques, and this can distinguish the FIB technology from the contemporary photolithography process and provide a vital alternative to it. After an introduction to the technology and its FIB principles, the recent developments in using milling techniques for making various high-quality devices and high-precision components at the micrometer scale are examined and discussed. Finally, conclusions are presented to summarize the reviewed work and to suggest the areas for improving the FIB milling technology and for future research.