5500 AFM Data Sheet

Overview

The Keysight Technologies, Inc. 5500 is the ideal multiple-user research system for atomic force microscopy. As the high-performance flagship of Keysight’s AFM instrument line, the 5500 provides atomic-scale resolution and a wealth of unique technological features, including patented top-down scanning, ultra-precision temperature control, and industry leading environmental control. It is well suited for life science, materials science, polymer science, electrical characterization, and nanolithography applications.

The intelligent, modular design of the 5500 permits the simple integration of an inverted optical microscope, numerous imaging modes, customizable sample-handling plates, an electrochemistry kit, and a video microscope. In short, the versatile 5500 has been engineered to support almost every scientific AFM capability offered by Keysight.

Scanners

Keysight’s open- and closed-loop scanners (two ranges available: 90 μm x 90 μm, or 9 μm x 9 μm) offer outstanding linearity, accuracy, versatility, and ease of use. These multipurpose, top-down scanners are ideal for imaging in fluids or air and under controlled temperature and environmental conditions. To deliver high-resolution imaging results, a balanced-pendulum design is utilized that eliminates artifacts in the image by keeping the relative position of the laser spot fixed in relation to the cantilever throughout the scan cycle.

STM scanners (10 μm x 10 μm, or 1μm x 1μm) are also available for use with the 5500. Keysight’s STM scanners deliver excellent results on a variety of conducting materials. These low-current and ultra-low-current STM scanners provide stable imaging at pico-ampere and sub-pico-ampere currents to resolve individual atoms and molecules. STM scanners take advantage of the extreme distance sensitivity of the tunneling current between two conducting electrodes. By measuring the tunnel-current variations as a probe is scanned over a sample’s surface, STM is able to deliver the highest-resolution SPM images.

Open access to the scanner and easy alignment of optics help simplify use of the 5500. In addition, easy-to-load scanner nose cones make switching imaging modes quick and convenient. The nose cones are made from PEEK polymers, have low chemical reactivity, and can be used in a wide range of solvents. Their easy interchangeability provides tremendous flexibility.

MAC Mode

Keysight’s patented MAC Mode provides the industry’s best performance for imaging in fluids and imaging soft samples, allowing researchers to image submolecular structures that cannot be resolved with any other AFM technique. MAC Mode is particularly useful in application areas that require high resolution and force sensitivity, such as biology, polymers, and surface science. AAC mode is included with MAC Mode.

MAC Mode III

Patented MAC Mode III provides three user-configurable lock-in amplifiers, affording researchers virtually limitless application possibilities and unprecedented speed. It also provides two expansion slots. MAC Mode III has been designed to allow single-pass imaging concurrent with KFM/ EFM. Simultaneous, high-accuracy topography and surface potential measurements are enabled by a servo-on-height cantilever approach that is not susceptible to scanner drift. KFM/ EFM is especially useful for measuring dielectric films, metal surfaces, piezoelectrics, and conductor-insulator transitions.

MAC Mode III also lets researchers perform vertical or lateral modulation studies and delivers a unique plot of the oscillating amplitude vs. frequency in contact. This capability allows easy optimization of the detection sensitivity for a broad range of cantilever spring constants.

In addition to KFM/EFM and piezo force, MAC Mode III allows the use of higher resonance modes of the cantilever. Higher harmonic imaging provides contrast different from that seen with fundamental amplitude and phase signals. This technique can be utilized to collect additional information about mechanical properties of the sample surface.

Temperature Control 

Keysight’s temperature controller uses a patented thermal insulation and compensation design to deliver the industry’s most precise temperature control. It allows imaging during temperature changes and is fully compatible with all imaging modes, including those utilized in fluid. The temperature controller’s design isolates the sample plate from the rest of the 5500 system. An insulated ceramic fixture protects the surrounding apparatus from the effects of heating or cooling, thus providing the most precise, stable temperature control available. Temperature control is offered with heating up to 250°C and cooling down to -30°C. 

Environmental Control 

Keysight’s industry-leading environmental isolation chamber (EIC) has been specifically designed to meet the many requirements of intricate, demanding atomic force microscopy and scanning probe microscopy research. The EIC mounts directly to the 5500 and provides a sealed sample compartment that is completely isolated from the rest of the system. Eight inlet/outlet ports permit the flow of many different gases into or out of the sample area. Keysight scanners reside outside the EIC, so they are protected from contamination, harsh gases, solvents, caustic liquids, and other damaging experimental conditions. With the EIC, humidity levels can be controlled, oxygen levels monitored and controlled, and reactive gases easily introduced into and purged from the sample chamber.

Sample Plates 

The unique design of Keysight’s sample plates delivers superior sample stability and ease of use. Magnetic suspension provides easy loading and eliminates mechanical drift. The stand-alone plates permit simple sample mounting and application-specific plate customization. A modular design allows the plates to be used with an unparalleled number of options, such as open liquid cells, flow-through cells, salt-bridge cells (electrochemistry), Petri dishes (live-cell imaging), and glass microscope slides. 

Electrochemical SPM 

Keysight’s electrochemical SPM option includes a complete kit for high-resolution in situ EC-SPM experiments. Electrochemical SPM offers a low-noise potentiostat/ galvanostat for in situ EC-STM and EC-AFM. When combined with temperature control, it is possible to obtain valuable information about electrochemical processes that would otherwise be inaccessible. The addition of environmental control allows imaging with no dissolved oxygen in either aqueous or non-aqueous solutions. The new SECM mode combined with the AFM is a seamlessly integrated technology package that enables scientists to perform scanning electrochemical microscopy (SEM) on conductive and insulating samples with a state-of-the-art atomic force microscope from Keysight Technologies. This new Keysight mode of AFM operation has been designed to provide ultimate performance as well as supreme ease of use.