Boston Chapter of the IEEE Photonics Society

Abstract:  In this talk I will provide an overview of a new focused ion beam source technology being developed at NIST.  In a magneto-optical trap ion source (MOTIS), atoms are laser cooled in an isotopically selective manner to within a few hundred micro-Kelvin of absolute zero, and then photoionized.  The resultant ion beam has ion optical properties that are comparable to or better than those of liquid metal ion sources, which are the current state of the art for focused ion beams.  The MOTIS paradigm can be extended to create ion sources from any atomic species that can be laser-cooled, e.g., Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Fr, Mg, Ca, Sr, He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, Al, Ag, Cr, Er, Cd, Hg, and Yb.  This flexibility allows the atomic species of the source to be tailored to the specific application, e.g., microscopy with light ions, milling with heavy ions, and nanoscale implantation of a variety of elements.  We have recently created MOTIS-based FIBs of chromium and lithium.  I will discuss the construction of these systems and the latest microscopy results obtained with these beams.

Biography:  Jabez McClelland is the Group Leader of the Electron Physics Group in the Center for Nanoscale Science and technology at NIST. He received a B.A. in Physics and Music from Wesleyan University, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Physics from the University of Texas at Austin. During his graduate studies he spent a year as a Fulbright Fellow at the Freie Universität Berlin. Jabez came to NIST as a postdoctoral research associate in the Electron Physics Group, where he subsequently served as a research physicist, and most recently as the Group Leader. Jabez’s research at NIST has covered a number of topics ranging from spin-polarized low-energy electron scattering from laser excited atoms, to laser focused atomic deposition, metastable-atom lithography, and deterministic single-atom sources. He has over 90 publications, including several in high-profile journals such as Science and Physical Review Letters. He is a frequent invited speaker at international meetings, and is considered one of the world experts on atom optics. Jabez holds four patents, is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the Optical Society of America, has received the Sigma Xi Award for Excellence in Science, and has been awarded both Silver and Gold Medals from the Department of Commerce.  He currently leads projects on focused ion beam sources based on magneto-optically trapped atoms, laser cooling of novel atomic species, and atom-based metrology.