US Patent 7700367 Method of making lamina specimen

In a method of making a lamina specimen, first and second ion beams are simultaneously used to sputter etch first and second side walls of a lamina region at the same time under first and second ion beam conditions. A scanning ion microscope observation of the lamina region is made using the second ion beam while sputter etching of the first and second side walls is continued using the first ion beam until the thickness of the lamina has a predetermined value.