Scanning Probe Microscopes

Minus K isolators enable SPM’s to achieve their highest level of performance. They provide the performance of an ideal bungee system and the convenience of a bench top system without any of the problems associated with any of them, including air tables.

Scanning probe microscopes are among the world's most sensitive instruments. These include AFM, STM, NSOM, etc. They have vibration isolation requirements that are unparalleled in the metrology world. From the ubiquitous bungee suspension systems, to large beds of sand on inner tubes, there have been many attempts at achieving the ultimate isolation for SPM. Air tables have been used with some success. However, the Nano K isolators provide superior isolation performance while offering better ease of use and no facility requirements. We even have the flexibility of custom tailoring resonant frequencies vertically, horizontally and in tilt to your liking.

The vertical axis is the most sensitive for most SPM's. They can also be quite sensitive to vibrations in the horizontal axes. In order to achieve the lowest possible noise floor (on the order of an angstrom), isolation is always used. Large air tables provide decent isolation vertically but are limited horizontally. Bench top air systems provide limited isolation vertically and very little isolation horizontally. Bungee systems are very good isolators but are extremely cumbersome and somewhat risky to use.

Small active systems are also sometimes used for SPM’s. These also have several drawbacks:

• They are expensive and fragile.
• They are subject to the noise floor of every component in the entire feedback loop plus AC line noise.
• They have a limited dynamic range, typically only a few thousandths of an inch. If this is exceeded (very easy to do) the isolator goes into positive feedback and you have a very expensive noise generator underneath your SPM.
• They have to be sitting on an infinitely rigid structure to work at their theoretical best. Obviously, infinitely rigid structures are not easy to find in most labs. The result is that the isolator is not always doing what you think it's doing.

Our isolators give you the best possible performance in all axes. They provide the performance of an ideal bungee system and the convenience of a bench top system without any of the problems associated with any of them, including air tables. We enable SPM users to achieve the highest level of noise performance possible.

Read the Microscopy Testimonials.