Although many publications have discussed focused ion beam (FIB) preparation of TEM samples, few have presented a detailed, step-by-step milling procedure. This is a summary of techniques that evolved over the past 3 years in our laboratory. In addition to describing more traditional mechanical pre-thinning techniques, we introduce a method to pre-thin samples down to thicknesses of the order of 20 μm within 1 hour using a wafer dicing saw. We then discuss different ways to handle mechanically difficult samples such as those prone to delaminate. Our approach to FIB milling is designed to minimize the effects of ion-beam spreading which is responsible for most of the failures to prepare good FIBTEM samples. The technique is presented in a step-by-step fashion including a simple yet reliable method to terminate FIB milling. Examples are shown to illustrate applications to different types of problems including - precision cross-sectioning of integrated circuit (IC) devices, cross-sectioning of samples prone to delamination, and cross-sectioning of specific defect sites. Finally, we discuss the effect of artifacts in the quality of TEM samples.