Nanonis Mimea Multiprobe Control System: A scalable and cost effective solution for multiprobe-SPM

No tradeoff between usability and scalability

Multiprobe systems typically have between 2 and 5 probes and the control system should be able to handle every possible configuration. Previous solutions were either designed for the maximum number of probes, resulting in an expensive configuration for fewer probes, or used multiple single-probe controllers resulting in complex workflow and poor usability.

Nanonis Mimea is a modular platform which easily grows with the number of probes while maintaining a single-controller architecture with all measurements managed and all data handled by one user interface.

Modular hardware

The possibility to combine different Nanonis signal interfaces (SC5, SO5 and OC4) depending on the requirements for number and type of signals ensures a cost-effective control system. While a dual-STM-probe system can be managed by a BP5e with its single SC5 and a few additional software modules, a four-probe system is best controlled by a BP5e and one SO5. The SO5 offers 16 low-noise outputs which cover positioning of the probes and which can additionally be used as precision voltage sources for electrical transport measurements. If required, the system can be extended to up to 40 outputs and 24 inputs with various intermediate configurations, offering sufficient and optimized connectivity for any imaginable experiment.

In addition to this, up to two probes for dynamic AFM measurements can easily be integrated by adding one OC4 for each probe.

Coarse motion is handled by a single piezo motor driver able to control up to 16 axes of coarse motion, sufficient for up to 5 XYZ-stages.

An ultra-high impedance multichannel voltage preamplifier with full software control can be supplied for multi-terminal measurements.

Software functionality

The BP5e offers an extremely flexible signal architecture, and most of the multiprobe functionality is managed by the controller software. The scan engine can be assigned to any of the probes, while the other probes are kept at their XY-position. Each probe has its own Z-controller, its own piezo calibration and its own auto-approach functionality.

Transport measurements can easily be performed with the ultrafast spectroscopy module which can address any of the output for voltage sweeps or bias spectroscopy.