Small lab-size closed-cycle low temperature SPM with magnetic field

The high price of liquid helium used as the standard cooling liquid for sophisticated very low temperature instruments increasingly and significantly adds to their running costs. Recent advances in cryogenic technologies allow for closed cycle cooling environments and gradually replace traditional "wet" cryostat designs. Cooling power, temperature stability and vibrational properties have improved continuously, meanwhile allowing for integration of these cooling systems into highly sensitive instruments such as scanning probe microscopes. Ultimate stability, purity and as a consequence highest spatial and energy resolution can only be achieved in ultra-high vacuum environments, though. Paying attention to the current demands of low temperature scanning probe microscopy for the combination of optical and magnetic analysis we have developed an ultra-high vacuum closed-cycle cooled scanning probe microscope for STM and AFM which fits into any lab environment due to its small size and its silent acoustic noise properties. In contrast to current commercially available scanning probe microscopes our solution combines long-term stable low temperature operation with a dry superconducting magnet for state-of-the-art magnetic field. The built-in highly compact scanning probe microscope head offers easy optical access and can be combined with optical elements for e.g. TERS or luminescence experiments.