Coronary artery disease is a major problem worldwide causing 7.2 million deaths worldwide
annually, resulting from vascular occlusion, myocardial infarction and its complications. Stent
implantation is a percutaneous interventional procedure that mitigates vessel stenosis, providing
mechanical support within the artery. However, stenting causes physical damage to the arterial
wall. It is well accepted that a valuable route to reduce in-stent re-stenosis can be based on
promoting cell response to nano-structured stainless steel (SS) surfaces such as, for example, by
patterning nano-pits in SS. In this regard patterning by Focussed Ion-Beam (FIB) milling offers
several advantages for flexible prototyping (i) practically any substrate material that is able to
withstand high vacuum conditions of the microscope chamber can be used, (ii) there is high
flexibility in the obtainable shapes and geometries by modulating the ion beam current and the
patterning conditions, (iii) reduced complexity of the pattering process e.g. it is a single-step
process with a possibility of real-time monitoring of the milling progression. On the other hand
FIB patterning of polycrystalline metals is greatly influenced by channelling effects and redeposition.
Correlative microscopy methods present an opportunity to study such effects
comprehensively and derive structure-property understanding that is important for developing
improved pattering. In this report we present a FIB patterning protocol for nano-structuring
features (concaves) ordered in rectangular arrays on pre-polished 316L Stainless Steel (SS)
surfaces. An investigation based on correlative microscopy approach of the size, shape and depth
of the developed arrays in relation to the crystal orientation of the underlying SS domains, is
presented. The correlative microscopy protocol is based on cross-correlation of top-view
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD), and Atomic
Force Microscopy (AFM).Various dose tests were performed, aiming at improved productivity
by preserving nano-size accuracy of the patterned process. The optimal FIB patterning
conditions for achieving reasonably high throughput (patterned rate of about 0.03 mm2 per hour) and nano-size accuracy in dimensions and shapes of the features, are discussed as well.