EDFAS - ISTFA User Groups

  • 1.  ISTFA 2021 FIB User meeting & the On-line Community

    Posted 10-25-2021 11:42

    Good Monday to all 183 of you registered with the ASM Connect FIB User Group. The ISTFA 2021 conference begins in less than one week.  To those of you planning to join us, welcome back to a live event!  Travel safely and make the most of renewed face-to-face learning.

    Modern FIB tools are the bedrock of many analytical operations.  They are utilized in a wide variety of fab and lab tasks including cross-sectioning, electrical isolation, circuit edit, and sample preparation for other analysis techniques such as STEM, TEM, SIMMs, Atom Probe, etc.

    COVID-19 had a profound impact on the semiconductor industry, and uncertainty and disruptions to your lab operations will most likely continue into the near future.  While the capabilities for effective laboratory analysis have never been greater, the pressure on FIB tool owners is also on the rise to make the best use of what we have available.  Many of us feel compelled or are forced by circumstances to develop new techniques and hone our skills in a virtual vacuum.  What if we didn't have to do it all on our own?  What if we could learn and advance by leveraging the power of our colleagues and fellow 'fibbers' from around the world?  After all, aren't most of us struggling with many of the same challenges?

    We have two solutions for you.

    1) Attend the FIB User Group at ISTFA 2021 in Phoenix beginning at 3 pm, Wednesday November 3rd. The goal of this two hour ISTFA special event is to provide those that are involved with FIB tools (or even those with just a passing interest!) an opportunity to share information, ask questions, and discover avenues for future collaboration.  Last January's virtual event had 130 of the top "Fibbers" on-line! 

    This year we return to a live venue and will continue our format of mini-presentations, floor-initiated topics, and a robust interchange of ideas.  Come with your questions, challenges, suggestions, tips and tricks, and the like. Share what you know, inquire about something new, challenge the status quo. We provide an initial framework to get the discussion going, but the attendees take it from there. 

    2) Participate in ASM Connect, our online discussion platform.   Just like the live ISTFA event, this virtual community is an open forum for people interested in discussing FIB tool configurations, operating modes, specifications, purchase, care and upkeep, and especially the various use cases, challenges and solutions. Based on your past participation at ISTFA and in particular your interest in the FIB meeting at ISTFA 2019/2020, you were added to the group. 

    Within this forum members can network year-round with no geographical barriers, engage in knowledge sharing, post questions, discuss ideas, and share experiences and thoughts. In addition to being able to chat with colleagues, members have access to tool vendors and subject matter experts, and can post documents to share with others.  As moderators of this community, we highly encourage you to join this online forum for continued learning and knowledge sharing beyond annual events. This is also a great place to suggest topics for future live ISTFA User Group meetings!

    A general link to all EDFAS Communities (including FIB):  https://connect.asminternational.org/edfas/communities/allcommunities


    Thanks, from your FIB community moderators: 

    Steven Herschbein (Independent Consultant)

    Michael Wong (Thermo Fisher Scientific)

    Valerie Brogden (University of Oregon)

    Edward Principe (Synchrotron Research) 

     



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    Steven Herschbein
    Hopewell Junction NY
    (845) 518-6819
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  • 2.  RE: ISTFA 2021 FIB User meeting & the On-line Community

    Posted 10-26-2021 13:40
    Steve, this is excellent.  I can't wait until next week!

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    James Demarest, FASM
    Senior Engineer
    IBM
    Albany NY
    jjdemar@us.ibm.com
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