Two holes are dug into the chip with an ion beam. The membrane that will be extracted is the line separating the two holes. The white particles surrounding the holes are diamond dust.
The probe is now used to extract the membrane. The first attempt resulted in a chip breaking off, but a second attempt was successful. The probe's tip is bent from bumping into the hard surfaces.
With the chip removed, Pickard readies the probe and the focused ion beam for further cutting. The apparatus that looks like a cigarette is the ion beam system.