received by the International Bureau on 01 July 2014 (01.07.2014)

1. A method for preparing a thin, reinforced lamellar structure using a charged particle beam systems, comprising:

partly forming a lamella from a sample material;

applying a hardening material in a pattern to the lamella; and

milling the lamella, a region of the lamella with the hardening material being milled at a slower rate than a region of the lamella without the hardening material, leaving at least one raised structure where the hardening material was applied to mechanically strengthen the lamella.

2. The method of claim 1 in which milling the lamella comprises milling a TEM sample.

3. The method of claim 1 in which the rate of milling of the region of the lamella with the hardening material is 20% less than the rate of milling of the region of the lamella without the hardening material.

4. The method of claim 1 in which applying a hardening material comprises directing a focused ion beam toward the lamella to implant ions into the lamella.

5. The method of claim 4 in which directing a focused ion beam toward the lamella to implant ions includes directing a beam of beryllium ions towards the lamella.

6. The method of claim 4 in which directing a focused ion beam toward the lamella to implant ions into the lamella includes providing an ion dose of between 0- 1-1.0 nC/μπι².

7. The method of claim 1 in which applying a hardening material and milling the lamella are performed by a single focusing column in the charged particle beam system.

8. The method of claim 7 in which the single focusing column comprises of a liquid metal alloy source or a plasma ion source and a mass filter to select the ions.

9. The method of claim 1 in which the lamella has a final thickness of less than 20 nm.

10. A nanoscale structure comprising a first region having a thickness of less than 50 nm surrounded on at least two sides by second regions thinner than the first region, the first region forming a support structure for reinforcing the second regions and comprising a same material as the second region, with atoms of a different material added to the first region.

11. The structure of claim 10 in which the second regions adjacent the first region have a thickness of less than 30 nm.

12. The structure of claim 10 in which the first regions comprise reinforcing lines positioned within the second regions.

13. The structure of claim 12 in which the atoms of the different material added to the first region are implanted by ion implantation.

14._. The structure of claim 12 in which the first region includes silicon implanted with beryllium and in which the second regions comprise silicon.

15. The structure of claim 10 in which the nanoscale structure is a lamellar TEM sample.

16. A method for preparing a microscopic structure, comprising:

directing a focused beam of ions in a pattern toward a work piece to implant atoms into a surface of the work piece; and

etching a portion of the work piece, the etched portion including at least a portion of the pattern, the implanted atoms reducing an etch rate of the pattern to form a protruding region in the form of the pattern.

17. The method of claim 16 in which etching the work piece includes milling the work piece using a focused ion beam or a focused electron beam.

18. The method of claim 17 in which etching the work piece includes exposing the work piece to a precursor gas that decomposes in a presence of a charged particle beam,

19. The method of claim 16 in which etchmg the work piece mcludes exposing the work piece to an etchant that will etch the work piece without requiring a presence of a charged particle beam.

20. The method of claim 16 in which etchmg the work piece includes directing an ion beam having a spot size greater than 500 nm onto the work piece.

21. The method of claim 16 in which directing a focused beam of ions in a pattern toward a work piece to implant atoms into a surface of the work piece includes directing Be^4-, Ga⁺₅ Xe⁺, Ar⁺, 0⁺, In⁺, Si⁺, Kr⁺, or Bi⁺ ions.