Our group runs an INFINITY SPM Lab from Scienta Omicron. This is a pulse tube cooler based low-temperature scanning probe microscope for high-resolution scanning tunnelling microscopy and non-contact atomic force microscopy with QPlus® sensor technology. The system works in ultra-high vacuum (< 5 x 10-11 mbar) at a base temperature of 10 K, offering the stability needed for running atomic-manipulation experiments and performing scanning tunnelling spectroscopy measurements for electronic characterization of a given sample.
The SPM chamber is attached to a PREP chamber featuring all the tools needed for sample preparation: a heating stage for radiative and direct current annealing, an ion gun for ion sputtering, a LEED/Auger apparatus, one molecular evaporator and one e-beam evaporator, a quartz micro-balance, a residual gas analyser and several leak valves.
Finally, the there is a load-lock chamber for sample insertion and storage within a carousel
