The Multiscan lab from Omicron has a unique combination of a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Scanning Tunnelling Microscope (STM). This makes it possible to scan a large area of a sample with the SEM and investigate the interesting areas more closely with the STM. The system is also equipped with a state of the art Scanning Auger Microscope (SAM) which makes it possible to map the surface element composition. Furthermore the facility includes Ion Scattering Spectroscopy (ISS) which also enables us to analyze the surface composition.
These techniques are all installed in the analysis chamber. Apart from this chamber, the facility also includes a preparation chamber where we can prepare our samples before entering the analysis chamber. We have equipped this chamber with a high pressure cell, a mass spectrometer, LEED, and a cluster source.
The cluster source is dedicated to produce nanoparticles with a very narrow size distribution. The production technique is based on magnetron sputtering of a metal target. In this process a large amount of charged metal particles are produced. These nanoparticles are then size selected with a quadrupole, and hereby a very narrow size distribution of particles is obtainable. The cluster source can produce nanoparticles from a wide range of materials.