An extra room is dedicated to the preparation laboratory where the preparation and storage of samples and equipment are possible. In the preparation laboratory, users can find an optical microscope, a table for preparation and several cabinets (for storing acetone and ethanol, tools and for storing UHV components).
The optical microscope is mounted on a dedicated optical table and a highly stable micromanipulator system with W probe tips is installed close to the microscope body, as shown in the figure below.
The inspection of a sample surface under the optical microscope is recommended to ensure the tidiness of the surface before loading the sample in the UHV chamber: the presence of micrometre-sized contaminants will most likely produce sparks during experiments in the SPELEEM microscope. The micromanipulator allows both the removal of contaminants from the sample surface and the fine manipulation of nanostructures over the surface when needed.
The main charcteristics of the optical microscope and the micromanipulator are reported in the tables below:
Optical microscope
| Charcteristics | |
|---|---|
| Camera | Olympus SC50 |
| Image recording software | OLYMPUS Stream Basic 2.3 |
| Image | Size (in pixels) 2560 x 1920 Size (calibrated) 4.5 mm x 3.4 mm |
| Lenses properties | MPLAPO 2.5x/0.08 – working distance 10700 µm MPL-BD 10x/0.25 – working distance 7000 µm LMPLFLN-BD 20x/0.40 – working distance 12000 µm LMPLFLN-BD 50x/0.50 – working distance 10600 µm SLMPLN 100x/0.60 – working distance 7500 µm Camera adapter magnification: 0.5x |
| Stage motion | x, y z for the focus adjustment with coarse and fine motion |
| Polarizer | Olympus U-DICR Nomarski Prism Reflected Light |
| Other | Recording images and video, adjusting the focus within the same ROI while recording the image, measuring features and structures on the surface, and many more options. |
Micromanipulator
| Chracteristics | |
|---|---|
| Rigid stand with platform | Thorlabs MP150 – platform adjustable height: 198.1 mm (Min), 309.3 mm (Max) – 360° rotation – horizontal travel |
| 3-Axis MicroBlock | Thorlabs MBT616D/M – travel range: coarse 4 mm; fine 300 µm – adjustment: coarse 500 µm/rev; fine 50 µm/rev |
| W Probe Tips | Oxford Instruments NanoAnalysis PT-0001.05.01 – tip radius: <0.5 µm – taper angle: 6° – shank diameter: 0.508 mm – needle length: 19.304 mm |