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Combined Confocal and Scanning Force Microscope
as a powerful platform for cutting edge research
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After decades of evolution in magnetic imaging, combining the sensitivity needed to detect single electron or nuclear spins with a spatial resolution of a few nanometers may soon get within reach of current state-of-the-art instrumentation: nitrogen vacancy (NV) color center based nanomagnetometry based on the principle of optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) is commonly considered as the most promising candidate to achieve this goal.
While there is huge scientific activity to reliably prepare appropriate nanodiamonds with tailored NV center characteristics and to attach them to AFM tips, attocube as a commercial supplier of scanning probe microscopes is complementing these efforts in providing an ideal platform for ODMR: the attoCSFM combines a high-NA confocal microscope for detection in transmission with a cantilever based atomic force microscope (interferometric deflection detection), and is built completely from non-magnetic materials. The sample environment can be adjusted from ambient pressure to vacuum, and has an integrated temperature control to minimize thermal drifts to less than 10 nm/h. Precise relative positioning of the sample, AFM tip, high NA objective and an optional permanent magnet respectively is enabled via 10 degrees of freedom provided by nanopositioning stages and scanners (positioning ranges 15 x 15 x 15 mm, scan ranges 20 x 20 x 7 µm).
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| Main Components of the combined Confocal Scanning Force Microscope platform |
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Precise XYZ sample positioning range |
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Precise XYZ positioning for AFM tip |
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Z coarse positioning for high-NA objective (focus) |
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XYZ positioning for additional permanent magnet (optional) |
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confocal microscope objective |
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attoCFM confocal microscope head (optional) |
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up to 6 HF feedthroughs for customer use, e.g. RF excitation for ODMR (optional) |
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inspection optics |
| Latest AFM Results |
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Non-contact-mode AFM images using amplitude feedback on carbon nanotubes fixed on a cover slide.
Scan-Parameter: 1x1µm, 500x500 pixel, 250nm/s scan speed, frame time 4000s (1h 7min).
Sample: courtesy of Prof. Hartschuh, LMU München. |
| Specifications |
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Microscope built from non-magnetic materials |
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Sample environment: from ambient pressure to vacuum (e.g. to avoid photobleaching of sensitive samples such as single molecules) |
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Integrated temperature control to minimize thermal drifts |
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Image drift < 10 nm/h (after reaching thermal stabilization of microscope unit) |
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10 degrees of freedom for relative positioning of sample, AFM tip, objective and optional permanent magnet in close vicinity to sample |
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Coarse (15 x 15 x 15 mm) and fine (20 x 20 x 7 µm) positioning of the sample |
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Coarse (15 x 15 x 15 mm) and fine (20 x 20 x 7 µm) positioning of the AFM tip |
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Compatible with most commercially available high-NA objectives |
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Focusing of high NA objective in z direction (15 mm) |
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Precision positioning of a small permanent magnet in close vicinity to sample surface with 15 x 15 x 15 mm linearized positioning range (optional) |
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Linearization of images via post-processing (optional) |
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AFM: RMS z noise ( 5 ms integration time) < 120 pm |
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6 high-frequency lines for use as RF excitation in ODMR (optically detected magnetic resonance) experiments (optional) |
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6 electrical sample contacts for customer use (optional) |
Request Quotation & Support : |
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| Application Examples
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NV (Nitrogen vacancy) based nanoscale magnetometry |
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optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) |
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Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) |
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scattering SNOM (scanning near-field optical microscopy) |
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| Inspection optics of the attoCSFM microscope |
| Product
Key Features
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temperature stabilized microscope unit |
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independent sample scanning and scanning of the AFM module |
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cantilever or tuning fork based and PLL controlled AFM |
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Ultra-high NA objective |
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optional permanent magnet close to sample with adjustable position |
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hf feedthroughs for RF excitation (ODMR ready) |
| Confocal image of test sample, scan range 15 µm x 15 µm (attocube application labs, 2012) |
| AFM image of the same area (attocube application labs, 2012). |
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