Products

Dear customer, here you can find a description of our product palette. Please take our product palette as what it is: a starting point for building the right instrument for your application. The parameters and specifications of our standard products are chosen by us, so that the instruments will fit to most applications. To allow as many applications as possible, specifications are always compromises. If the main application is approximately known it is quite often possible to optimize the parameters for exactly this appliction. In many cases this results in a much more powerful setup than any standard equipment available on the marked can provide. But anyway, for standard applications the instruments as shown here are the perfect choice.

Commonly, our Scanning Probe Microscopes consist of three main parts,

1. Scanner
2. Stage with XY table and CCD camera
3. Controller and Software

In some cases, the scanner cannot be separated from the stage, but most of our scanners can be used in different stages, depending on the actual application. All our scanning probe microscopes are controlled by our controller C-26. The user software interface is available in two different versions, for Windows (normal user) or for Linux operating system (highly customizable, special applications).

Introduction

For anyone who is not familiar with the Scanning Probe Microscopy, we here have an Overview of the main principles of Scanning Probe Microscopy as well as some considerations about The stability of a scanner stage. These will make it easier for a user to find the right components for an individual system. If you havn't known DME so far, you may also have a look at this article.

Scanners

Below is a list of our standard scanners. The AFM scanners of the DualScope DS 45 and DS 95 Series have a built-in microscope objective with a view to the cantilever and the surface of the investigated sample. So it is no problem to locate the interesting positions on a sample. The scanners can either be mounted in the nose piece of an optical microscope, or in one of our scanner stages. All scanners are Probe scanners, i.e. during scanning, the cantilever is moved from side to side over the sample, therefore no special scanner platform is necessary to operate the scanner. Anyway, we recommend the use of one of our stages instead of mounting the scanner in an optical microscope, since our stages will provide the right stability for this kind of system and include a CCD camera with monitor. Upon request, we can modify the scanners for sample scanning, i.e. with a scanning sample table, when this is needed for e.g. other scan planes or a special X-Y-positioning.

For coarse approach, all our scanners use our specially developed piezo motors. They provide ultra soft tip approach without stressing the sample surface. The piezo motors have an average movement of app. 1.5 mm and a positioning accuracy better than 0,1 nm. Thus, the Z range of the scanner is used optimally, since after the approach, the sample surface will be exactly in the middle of the Z range of the scanner. A further adjustment is automatically done between scans.

For stability purposes, the dedicated STM scanners are built into their own scanner stages, thus guaranteeing the highest resolution and least vibrations.

	DualScope DS 45-40 AFM Our small AFM scanner with a scan area of 40 x 40 micron. This scanner is also available as a SNOM scanner which can use metal or glass fibers. More information
	DualScope DS 95-50/200 AFM Our comfortable AFM scanners with scan ranges of 50 x 50 micron and 200 x 200 micron, respectively, and Z> ranges of up to 15 micron. The fully automatic cantilever adjustment makes routine scanning very easy. Available with additional functions for electrical measurements and STM mode. More information
	Rasterscope EC STM Our dedicated air STM scanner with integrated stage. Also available in a version for electrochemical STM measurements. The scanner has a scan range of 4,5 x 4,5 micron. Data sheet
	Rasterscope UHV STM Our dedicated UHV STM scanner, available in various configurations and individually adaptable to existing UHV systems. Data sheet standard version, Data sheet variable temperature version

Scanner stages

The correct scanner stage is the Alfa and Omega of a Scanning Probe Microscope set-up. By mounting an AFMs in a conventional optical microscope you may save the cost of a conventional scanner stage, but most optical microscopes only to a limited extent live up to the stability requirements of an SPM microscope. What you should have in mind when selecting a scanner stage can be seen from the short overwiev. All our scanner stages are delivered with a CCD camera and a color monitor as well as power supply for reflection and transmission lighting.

	The "igloo" The igloo is our most compact scanner stage. This is the most compact solution for manual investigation of small, flat samples. Data sheet
	The small granite stage This stage allows investigation of thicker samples and gives a free view of the sample from the side. Data sheet

The medium granite stage This stage with PC controlled, 10 cm movable object table allows a fully automated sample measurement. Data sheet

The large granite stage This stage with a 15 cm movable granite object table and a positioning accuracy of 100 nm is the ideal solution for fully automated routine measurements, and gives the highest AFM measurement stability. With the push of a button, you can switch between a high resolution, conventional microscope with DIC function and the AFM scanner, thus combining a quick visual control with a high resolution AFM measurement. The repositioning problems of working with more examination methods are totally eliminated. Upon request, we can include other measuring equipment also. Data sheet

Special designs

As mentioned above, these were just or our standard products. To fully meet customer's requirements, they are quite often more or less modified.

So please tell use your application as exactly as possible, so that we can find out whether one can benefit from some special adaptions. Since all the elements of our microscopes have been developed by ourselves, we are open for any modification or new development!

Controller

The DualScope C-26 Controller (Data sheet) is the heart of our Scanning Probe Microscopes. It controls all scan functions and is equipped with the necessary analog input and output terminals for automatic recognition and control of our scanners. Furthermore, all high voltage supplies for the piezo scanner are integrated. The controller is connected to a PC via an IEEE-488 Bus, and can be operated from our Windows SPM program (Data sheet) as well as from Linux. The Windows based version includes all the standard functions for interactive measurement and use of the measured data. The Linux version offers a totally open concept based on the free laboratory control software Vimms for Linux and allows the definition of any fully automated measuring sequence and the corresponding data presentation.

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