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ZEISS Crossbeam
Your FIB-SEM for High Throughput 3D Analysis and Sample Preparation
Combine imaging and analytical performance of a high resolution field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) with the processing ability of a next-generation focused ion beam (FIB). You may be working in a multi-user facility, or an academic or industrial lab. Take advantage of ZEISS Crossbeam’s modular platform concept and upgrade your system with growing needs, e.g. with the LaserFIB for massive material ablation. During milling, imaging or when performing 3D analytics Crossbeam will speed up your FIB applications.
- Maximize Your SEM Insights
- Increase Your FIB Sample Throughput
- Experience Best 3D Resolution in Your FIB-SEM Analysis
Highlights

Maximize Your SEM Insights
- Take advantage of up to 30% better SEM resolution at low voltage using Tandem decel, a feature of the novel ZEISS Gemini electron optics.
- Extract true sample information from your high resolution SEM images using Gemini electron optics.
- Count on the SEM performance of your ZEISS Crossbeam for 2D surface sensitive images or when performing 3D tomography.
- Benefit from high resolution, contrast and signal-to-noise ratios, even when using very low acceleration voltages.
- Characterize your sample comprehensively with a range of detectors. Get pure materials contrast with the unique Inlens EsB detector.
- Investigate non-conductive specimens undisturbed by charging artifacts.
Increase Your FIB Sample Throughput
- Benefit from speed and precision of intelligent FIB scanning strategies for material removal and perform your experiments up to 40% faster than before.
- The Ion-sculptor FIB column introduces a new way of FIB-processing: by minimizing sample damage you’ll maximize sample quality and perform experiments faster at the same time.
- Manipulate your samples precisely and fast by using up to 100 nA current without compromising FIB resolution.
- When preparing TEM samples use the low voltage capabilities of the Ion-sculptor FIB: get ultra-thin samples while keeping amorphization damage at a minimum.


Experience Best 3D Resolution in Your FIB-SEM Analysis
- Enjoy the benefits of integrated 3D analysis for EDS and EBSD investigations.
- During milling, imaging or when performing 3D analytics Crossbeam will speed up your FIB applications.
- Expand the capacity of your Crossbeam with ZEISS Atlas 5, the market-leading package for fast, precise tomography.
- Perform EDS and EBSD analysis during tomography runs with the integrated 3D Analytics module of ZEISS Atlas 5.
- Gain unique insights from best 3D resolution and leading isotropic voxel size in FIB-SEM tomography. Probe less than 3 nm in depth and produce surface sensitive, material contrast images using the Inlens EsB detector.
- Save time by collecting your serial section images while milling. Achieve accuracy and consistency using trackable voxel sizes and automated routines for active control of image quality.
Crossbeam Family

Leverage low vacuum operation and perform in situ experiments with outgassing or charging samples using the Variable Pressure mode. Achieve high quality imaging and high throughput enabled by the unique Gemini electron optics and the Ion-sculptor FIB.

Perform your most demanding characterizations and choose the chamber size, standard or large, that best suits your samples. The Gemini 2 electron optics enables high resolution, even at low voltage and high current. It’s ideal for high resolution imaging at high beam current and for fast analytics.

Your instrument for massive material ablation and preparation of large samples - the femtosecond laser on the airlock enhances in situ studies, avoids chamber contamination and is configurable as Crossbeam 350 and 550. Gain rapid access to deeply buried structures or prepare extremely demanding structures e.g. atom probe samples.

This solution for TEM lamella preparation and volume imaging under cryogenic conditions enables imaging near-to-native state. Connect widefield, laser scanning, and focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy. Keep the flexibility of a multi-purpose FIB-SEM simultaneously.
ZEISS Crossbeam Laser Workflow
How the LaserFIB Workflow Enhances Your High-resolution Imaging & Analysis
Rapidly access buried regions of interest, execute correlated workflows across multiple length scales, acquire better sample representativity with large-volume analysis, and perform 3D imaging and analytics. Add a femtosecond laser to your ZEISS Crossbeam and benefit from site-specific, ultra-fast sample preparation.
- Gain rapid access to deeply buried structures
- Prepare extremely large cross-sections up to millimeters in width and depth
- Benefit from minimal damage and heat affected zones due to femtosecond laser pulses in a controlled vacuum environment
- Perform laser work in a dedicated integrated chamber to maintain cleanliness of your FIB-SEM main chamber and detectors
- Find your deeply buried regions of interest (ROIs) by correlation with previously acquired 3D X-ray microscopy datasets or other external data
The Workflow for TEM Lamella Preparation
Just do it with high quality at high throughput

Navigate to your region of interest
TEM lamella preparation is essential for almost any FIB-SEM user. ZEISS offers an automated workflow for site-specific preparation. The resulting lamellae are ideally suited for high resolution TEM and STEM imaging and analysis at atomic resolution. Navigate to the specimen’s ROI, extract your TEM lamella including ROI from your bulk sample, perform the bulk milling or trenching step, and finalize the workflow with lift-out and thinning where appropriate.
TEM Lamella Preparation and Volume Imaging under Cryogenic Conditions

Cryogenic microscopy allows the examination of cellular structures in their near-to-native state. However, users face complex challenges, such as preparation, devitrification, ice contamination, loss of samples or correlation across imaging modalities. ZEISS Correlative Cryo Workflow connects widefield, laser scanning, and focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy in a seamless and easy-to-use procedure. Hardware and software are optimized for the needs of correlative cryogenic workflows, from localization of fluorescent macromolecules to high-contrast volume imaging and on-grid lamella thinning for cryo electron tomography.
The Technology Behind ZEISS Crossbeam
SEM Electron Optics
Choose between Two Columns
The FE-SEM column of ZEISS Crossbeams is based on Gemini electron optics as all ZEISS FE-SEMs. Decide on the Gemini VP column of Crossbeam 350 or the Gemini II column of Crossbeam 550.
Field emission SEMs are designed for high resolution imaging. Key to the performance of a field emission SEM is its electron optical column. Gemini technology comes with all ZEISS FE-SEMs and FIB-SEMs: it is tailored for excellent resolution on any sample, especially at low accelerating voltages, for complete and efficient detection, and ease-of-use.
Gemini Optics is Characterized by Three Main Components
- The Gemini objective lens design combines electrostatic and magnetic fields to maximize optical performance while reducing field influences at the sample to a minimum. This enables excellent imaging, even on challenging samples such as magnetic materials.
- Gemini beam booster technology, an integrated beam deceleration, guarantees small probe sizes and high signal-to-noise ratios.
- The Gemini Inlens detection concept ensures efficient signal detection by detecting secondary (SE) and backscattered (BSE) electrons in parallel minimizing time-to-image.
Benefits for Your FIB-SEM Applications
- Long-term stability of the SEM alignment and the effortless way it adjusts all system parameters such as probe current and acceleration voltage
- Achieve distortion-free, high resolution imaging even over large fields of view with the help of the near magnetic-field free optics
- Tilt the specimen without influencing the electron optical performance
Crossbeam 350 with Gemini I VP
- Maximum sample flexibility in multi-purpose environments
- In situ experiments with outgassing or charging samples
- Unique Gemini material contrast with the Inlens EsB detector
Crossbeam 550 with Gemini II
- High resolution even at low voltage and high current thanks to the double condenser system
- More information in less time with high resolution imaging and fast analytics
- Unique topographical and material contrast with simultaneous Inlens SE and EsB imaging
Gemini Novel Optics
Profit from Surface Sensitive Imaging
Today’s SEM applications demand high resolution imaging at low landing energy as a standard. It is essential for:
- beam sensitive samples
- non-conductive materials
- gaining true sample surface information without undesirable background signal from deeper sample layers
The novel Gemini optics are optimized for resolutions at low and very low voltages and for contrast enhancement.
Technological characteristics are the high gun resolution mode and the optional Tandem decel.
- The high gun resolution mode results in minimized chromatic aberration thanks to of a reduction of primary energy width by 30%.
Tandem decel, now introduced to ZEISS Crossbeam 350/550, can be used in two different modes:
- Tandem decel, a two-step deceleration mode, combines the beam booster technology with a high negative bias voltage that is applied to the sample: the electrons of the primary electron beam are decelerated, thus the landing energy is effectively reduced
- Apply a variable negative bias voltage between 50 V and 100 V. One application mode enhances the contrast of your images
- Apply a negative bias voltage between 1 kV and 5 kV and improve the low kV resolution of your images
FIB-SEM Technology
Discover a new way of FIB processing
The Ion-sculptor FIB column speeds up your FIB work without compromising machining precision and lets you benefit of its low voltage performance for any sample.
The ZEISS Crossbeam Family carries the next-generation focused ion beam column, Ion-sculptor, featuring high currents for high throughput and excellent low voltage performance for high sample quality.
- Maximize sample quality by using the low voltage capabilities of the Ion-sculptor FIB column
- Minimize amorphization of your specimens and get the best results after thinning
- Get precise and reproducible results with maximum stability
- Accelerate your FIB applications with fast probe current exchanges
- Perform high throughput experiments thanks to beam currents of up to 100 nA
- Achieve exceptional FIB resolution of less than 3 nm
- The Crossbeam family comes with automatic FIB emission recovery for long-term experiment
Applications
Materials Science
Nanomaterials
Live imaging of FIB-milling a spiral in silicon. Imaged with the SEM using an Inlens detector.
A)

B)

Energy Materials
Lithium ion battery example, product key featuring cross-sectioning & 3D Tomography and 3D Analysis LiMn2O4 cathode material of a lithium ion battery. Close-up of cross-section shows surface information on an Inlens SE image A). The distribution of lanthanum (red) and manganese (green) is derived from an EDS map B).

Engineering Materials
H-bar lamella preparation by fs-laser on a copper semi-circle grid. The left lamella is 400 μm wide, 215 μm deep and has a thickness of about 20 μm at the top. It was cut by the laser in 34 s. The amount of material that needs to be removed by FIB for final thinning is significantly reduced.

Engineering Materials
Key feature fs laser machining: Array of compression testing pillars in high entropy alloy, machined fully automatically.
Electronics & Semiconductor

3D-NAND – FIB-SEM Tomography
FIB-SEM tomography dataset acquired from a commercially purchased 3D NAND sample. Sample was depackaged and mechanically polished down to the topmost word line. Data acquisition was done on ZEISS Crossbeam 550 using ZEISS Atlas 3D. Voxel size 4 x 4 x 4 nm3.
Left: 3D rendering of the complete 2 x 4 x 1.5 µm3 volume.
Middle: Virtual sub-volume of 2 x 1.5 x 0.7 µm3 size, extracted from the dataset at the transition region of upper to lower deck.
Right: Single horizontal slice taken from the volume, showing a top-down view of a word line.

Power Electronics – Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor
Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) device analysis. The analysis was performed entirely on ZEISS Crossbeam 550.
First, a FIB cross-section across the gate electrode was cut, exposing irregularly distributed dark features (top).
Second, a lamella was prepared from the left-hand part of that cross section, and imaged by 30 kV STEM-in-SEM. The brightfield STEM image shown here reveals that the features are crystalline precipitates (bottom).
Third, EDS elemental mapping of the lamella showed that the precipitates are silicon (right).

3D Stacked Die Interconnect
Crossbeam laser provides fast, high-quality cross sections of Cu-pillar microbumps buried 760 µm deep with total time to results of <1 hour.
Left: 3D integrated circuit (IC) flip chip prepared for microbump imaging with laser ablation and FIB polishing.
Right: 25 µm diameter microbump image acquired with backscattered electrons.
Life Sciences
Cell Biology – HeLa Cells
Investigation of different cell compartments in single cells.
Individual HeLa cells were grown in culture dishes, chemically fixed
and resin-embedded in EPON. Voxel size 5 × 5 × 8 nm,
Inlens EsB detection, 1400 sections. 3D visualization with
Dragonfly Pro, ORS. Courtesy: A. Steyer and Y. Schwab, EMBL,
Heidelberg, DE.
Developmental Biology – C. elegans
Understanding the morphology of a whole organism in 3D with the highest resolution and reliability. The data set shows a arge 3D volume of C.elegans consisting of 10.080 z-sections at 5 x 5 x 8 nm pixel size. The nematode was high pressure frozen and freeze-substituted in EPON. Even the smallest structures inside the worm can be identified very easily.
Courtesy: A. Steyer and Y. Schwab, EMBL Heidelberg, DE; and S. Markert and C. Stigloher, University of Wuerzburg, DE.
Neuroscience – Brain Sections
Large area milling and imaging of a brain section with the
3D module of ZEISS Atlas 5. High current allows fast milling and
imaging of large fields of view up to 150 μm in width. The depicted
brain image has a field of view of 75 μm in width and
was milled with a beam current of 20 nA. Courtesy: C. Genoud,
FMI Basel, CH.

Microbiology - Trypanosoma
Ultrastructural investigation of the parasite Trypanosoma brucei.
The cells are high pressure frozen and freeze-substituted in EPON. Acquisition of 800 z-sections which corresponds to ~ 8 μm thickness in z; pixel size in x/y is 5 nm. Sample courtesy: S. Vaughan, Oxford Brookes University, Research Group ’Cell biology of Trypanosomes’, UK.
Accessories

Visualization and Analysis Software
ZEISS recommends Dragonfly Pro from Object Research Systems (ORS)
An advanced analysis and visualization software solution for your 3D data acquired by a variety of technologies including X-ray, FIB-SEM, SEM and helium ion microscopy.
Available exclusively through ZEISS, ORS Dragonfly Pro offers an intuitive, complete, and customizable toolkit for visualization and analysis of large 3D grayscale data. Dragonfly Pro allows for navigation, annotation, creation of media files, including video production, of your 3D data. Perform image processing, segmentation, and object analysis to quantify your results.

Introducing ToF-SIMS enables High Throughput in 3D Analysis
Add the ToF-SIMS (time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry) spectrometer to your Crossbeam 350 or Crossbeam 550 and analyze trace elements, light elements (e.g. lithium), and isotopes. Profit from sensitive and comprehensive analyses in 3D. Perform elemental mapping and depth profiling. Benefit from parallel detection of atomic and molecular ions down to the ppm level, achieve resolutions better than 35 nm in lateral direction and 20 nm in depth. Retrieve any signal from the ROI post-mortem.
Downloads
ZEISS Crossbeam Family
Your FIB-SEM for High Throughput 3D Analysis and Sample Preparation
pages: 25
file size: 7777 kB
ZEISS Crossbeam Family
Introducing ToF-SIMS enables High Throughput in 3D Analysis
pages: 2
file size: 1427 kB
ZEISS Crossbeam laser FIB-SEM
Rapidly access site-specific features buried deeply within IC packages
pages: 2
file size: 1337 kB
ZEISS ORS Dragonfly
Outstanding 3D visualization with best-in-class graphics
pages: 2
file size: 689 kB
Technology Note
Targeted Sample Preparation with ZEISS Crossbeam laser
pages: 7
file size: 3445 kB
Technology Note: ZEISS Crossbeam
Reproducible TEM Lamella Thinning by FIB with Real-time Thickness Control and End-point Detection
pages: 5
file size: 1394 kB
Technology Note: ZEISS Crossbeam 550
High Throughput Imaging
pages: 5
file size: 2044 kB
Application Note:
FIB-SEM Investigations of the Microstructure of CIGS Solar Cells
pages: 7
file size: 1388 kB
Application Note:
High Resolution STEM and EDS Study of Chromium Depletion in Stainless Steel
pages: 5
file size: 1614 kB
Application Note: FIB-SEMs
X² STEM Lamella Preparation from Multicomposite Organic Electronic Devices with ZEISS FIB-SEMs
pages: 6
file size: 883 kB
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