Design and testing of low temperature part of an UHV SPM microscope

Abstract

We have developed low temperature part of an ultra high vacuum scanning probe microscope (UHV-SPM) working at variable temperature within the range from 20 K to 700 K. To achieve the required temperature range, a flow cooling system using cryogenic helium (~5 K) as a coolant was designed. The system consists of a flow cryostat and a flexible low-loss transfer line connecting a Dewar vessel with the flow cryostat. We have also tested liquid nitrogen (~ 77 K) as an alternative low-cost coolant. Using nitrogen, the microscope can operate at temperatures of about 100 K and higher. As the flow of the coolant through the cryostat can cause thermally induced two-phase flow fluctuations resulting in instability in temperatures, preliminary tests were done in order to find ways of avoiding the temperature oscillations and optimising the cooling process.