ASC500

Attocube ASC500 - Scanning Probe Microscope Controller

The Attocube Systems ASC500 is a modular and flexible digital SPM controller which combines state-of-the-art hardware with innovative software architecture, offering superior performance and unprecedented variety of control concepts. The Attocube ASC500 SPM controller was developed with the goal to never be the limiting factor in any SPM experiment. All desirable functions and high-end specifications for conducting the experiment of your choice in AFM, MFM, CFM, SNOM, STM, and many more are available.

Features of the Attocube Systems ASC500 SPM Controller

Scan Engine
The ASC500 uses a dedicated hardware with a 5 MHz scan generator to create the voltages necessary for the raster motion. The 16 bits of the xy outputs are always automatically mapped to the actual scan field, yielding a virtually unlimited bit resolution.

ASC500 Z controller
The z scanner output is controlled by a digital PI algorithm with a bandwidth of 50 kHz. The z output DAC has a resolution of 18 bit, yielding a 4 pm resolution on a 1 µm scan range. This resolution can be increased to a theoretical value of 60 am by limiting the control range.

Digital/analog converters (DAC/ADC)
The outstanding input and output capabilities of the ASC500 are the key to highest precision measurements. Its analog-digital converters use state-of-the-art hardware with lowest possible noise.

Q Control
The ASC500 provides full control over the Q factor of any driven lever system by means of electronic Q control. The natural Q factor of the lever can be varied by typically more than one order of magnitude in each direction.

PLL
A fully digital phase locked loop is implemented into the ASC500. It uses the high frequency inputs/outputs with 50 MHz bandwidth. A high-speed Lock-in demodulator and two PI control loops are used to control the amplitude of an oscillator and to follow the resonance shifts.

Spectroscopy
The ASC500 features advanced spectroscopy techniques such as z spectroscopy and bias voltage spectroscopy. These measurements are supported by an internal Lock-in and a limiter functionality which drastically reduces the likelihood of a tip crash.

Measurement Modes
STM: constant height (with tilt correction), constant current
AFM: contact mode, amplitude modulation, frequency modulation (PLL), Kelvin Probe, bimodal AFM, scanning gate microscopy SGM
MFM: constant height (with tilt correction), dual pass mode
CFM: constant height, step scan mode for increased scan ranges

LabVIEW™ control
The new LabVIEW™ interface provides full control over all ASC500 functions.

Data Processing
Collection of data is the most important task in every experiment. The ASC500 was built to give the user every possibility to view, process, and save all data streams.