Study of Helium Ion Beam Exposed Nanostructures by <i>In Situ</i> AFM with ZEISS MERLIN

The AFM Option for the ZEISS MERLIN series combines an innovative high end atomic force microscope (AFM) with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). In situ high-resolution AFM measurements in the SEM become possible, opening up new possibilities for the characterization of nanostructures including information about mechanical, electrical, and magnetic properties as well as chemical surface potential. In this white paper an experiment is described, which demonstrates the power of the AFM/SEM combination for the analysis of helium ion beam exposed nanostructures.