Cathodoluminescence Spectroscopy Allalin 4027

Overview

The Allalin 4027 is a nanometer resolution spectroscopy instrument, based on a disruptive technology called low-temperature quantitative cathodoluminescence, that tightly integrates a scanning electron microscope, a light microscope and a cryogenic stage into one tool. It is designed for those who need to follow a tight technology roadmap and quickly access to extremely precise spectroscopic information that has been unavailable from traditional techniques.

In the semiconductor industry, the Allalin 4027’s 1600 color channels offer an unmatched solution for measurement of energy transfer in second generation solar cells and band-gap energy in Gallium Nitride based devices such as power transistors and LEDs. It can speed up technology development process and perform advance failure analysis (Indium clustering, band-gap shifts, etc.). In scientific and industrial research, the Allalin 4027’s ability to produce spectroscopic maps with nanometer resolution at various temperatures makes it the ultimate tool to obtain a deep insight into the physics of nanoscale objects.

The system was built from the ground up to achieve superior cathodoluminescence performance without compromising on the electron microscope performance: the light microscope and the objective lens of the scanning electron microscope are carefully intricated so that their focal planes match each other; the light microscope is machined with sub-micrometer precision in order to reach perfect achromatism, high numerical aperture (N.A. 0.71) and constant and superior photon collection efficiency over a field of view of 300 µm, so that quantitative cathodoluminescence benchmarking becomes possible for the first time; the electron microscope also operates at low electron beam energy (3–10 kV) for enhanced cathodoluminescence resolution. The Allalin 4027 incorporates a 6-degrees-of-freedom cryogenic stage for arbitrary positioning of the specimen with 1nm increments and zero drift and vibration at low temperature (10–300 K).

The Allalin 4027 includes a spectrometer, a high speed EMCCD camera, a zero-drift liquid Helium cryostat, a 6-degrees-of-freedom nano positioning stage and additional electronic hardware to run fast hyperspectral acquisitions.

Key Benefits

– Zero alignment: patented achromatic light microscope embedded in the column of a proprietary scanning electron microscope. Operating the Allalin 4027 is intuitive thanks to its context-based user interface and does not require to be an expert

– No compromise: simultaneous generation of a SEM image and a hyperspectral CL image with no degradation of the electron probe size

– Quantitative: the photon collection efficiency is constant over a large field of view of 300 µm with 0% photon loss due to vignetting in polychromatic mode; a mapping of 300 micron is performed without any displacement of the specimen: cathodoluminescence results are reproducible and comparable

– High light collection efficiency: a numerical aperture of 0,71 (f/0,5) makes low emission cathodoluminescence a reality

– Low temperature stability: acquire a hour-long map 10 K without observing any drift

– Nanometer positioning system: nanometer scale measurements thanks to the most advanced nano positioning system ever built in an electron microscope

– Upgradable: the core components (scanning electron microscope and light microscope) of the Grammont 2172, Allalin 4027 and Rosa 4634 are the same; it is possible to upgrade anytime to another system by adding various modules

– Optical hub: for integration of the Attolight CL instrument in a larger spectroscopic system