What our customers say

"Bruker manufactures analyzers for energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. With the help of the PicoScale interferometer we were able to determine properties such as positioning accuracy and synchronization of the kinematics quickly and precisely. We were also very satisfied with the support."
+++ Fabian Schuller, Electronics development, Bruker Nano GmbH, Berlin

"The PICOSCALE Interferometer is used to qualify the stages that we integrate in our nanoindentation products. The automized analysis is very fast and accurate so that we can highly recommend the product.”
+++ Dr. Felix Beyeler, FemtoTools AG, Switzerland

"We are using a PICOSCALE line focusing sensor head to track the motion of a polished cylinder in our synchrotron beamline. This allows us to close a feedback loop and rotate the cylinder without eccentricity or – thanks to the large tolerances of the sensor heads – with a stub offset."
+++ National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC), Hsinchu, Taiwan

"Multimodal studies on nanoscale specimen are of crucial interest for research fields such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In a novel experiment, the PICOSCALE Interferometer was used to collect information on the topography of a sample by sensing the dynamics of an atomic force microscopy cantilever. Simultaneously, the probe could be analyzed with SEM resolution and thus, two microscopy methods are fused. SmarAct offered customized solutions to integrate the compact sensor heads into the setup and enabled creating a microwave microscope inside an SEM as a world-first."
+++ O. Haenssler, University of Oldenburg, Germany

 

"The watt balance is comparing mechanical and electrical powers. In a first step, the mechanical force on a test mass in the earth’s gravitational field is balanced with an electro-magnetic force using a current-carrying coil. In a second step, the coil is moved through the magnetic field, which induces a voltage. The precise knowledge of the electrical, gravitational and dynamical properties allows to infer the mass in terms of natural constants only - instead of using the prototype mass in Paris. One requirement during the two phases of the experiment is the accurate determination of the position and angular orientation of the coil. This measurement is performed using the PICOSCALE Interferometer."
+++ Dr. Henri Baumann, METAS, Federal Institute of Metrology, Berne, Switzerland

 

"We are using the PICOSCALE as a position encoder for our motors and we will integrate the device in our HF facilities soon. We are very happy with the LabVIEW drivers that came with the system that allow us to combine our motion controllers with high precision displacement sensors in a single software tool."
+++ S. Martens, University of Hamburg, Germany

 

"At Sirius Light Source, in the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS) and the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), SmarAct PicoScale Interferometer has been used by designers and engineers in several beamline applications over the last five years. The first case was the High-Dynamic Double Crystal Monochromator (HD-DCM), in which the PicoScale Interferometer is used as an embedded feedback sensor in a high-bandwidth closed-loop control system, allowing for the breakthrough crystal-tocrystals angular stability of 10nrad RMS (integrated up to 2.5kHz) both in fixed-energy and flyscan operation modes. The main reason for the choice was the combination of high resolution and high feedback rates with convenient volume claims for the heads and for the optical fibers. Yet, the complete software interface, allowing us to debug and optimize operation, was essential to achieve the final performance. Moreover, the SmarAct development and support teams were always promptly available to help, from simple questions to specific development needs. From this successful collaboration, PicoScale has now been chosen for many other applications in our new 4th-generation synchrotron facility, particularly as metrology items in the most recent microprobe and nanoprobe end-stations."
+++ Ricardo Caliari and Renan Ramalho Geraldes, Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS), Campina, São Paolo, Brazil

 

"The PICOSCALE Interferometer is used in an experiment to precisely measure the oscillation amplitude of a mechanical oscillator. We operate the system at temperatures from -50 to 0 degree Celsius and study friction of samples. The sub-Angstrom noise level of the interferometer and its convenient output in combination with a third party Phase-Locked Loop eventually enabled the acquisition of very precise AFM images."
+++ A. Niguès, Laboratoire de Physique de l’École Normale Supérieure (UMR CNRS 8550), Paris, France

Selection of publications of our customers

 

A. Schropp, R. Döhrmann, S. Botta, D. Brückner, M. Kahnt, M. Lyubomirskiy, C. Ossig, M. Scholz, M. Seyrich, M.E. Stuckelberger, P. Wiljes, F. Wittwer, J. Garrevoet, G. Falkenberg, Y. Fam, T.L. Sheppard, J-D. Grunwaldt, C.G. Schroer (2020) PtyNAMi: ptychographic nano-analytical microscope. J. Appl. Crystallogr 53, 957–971; https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600576720008420

W. Klauser, M. Bartenwerfer, S. Fatikow (2020) Measurement of sub-nanonewton forces inside a scanning electron microscope. Rev Sci Instrum 91, 043701; https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5144653

Y.Y. Fein, P. Geyer, P. Zwick, F. Kialka, S. Pedalino, M. Mayor, S.Gerlich, M. Arndt (2019) Quantum superposition of molecules beyond 25 kDa. Nat. Phys. 15, 1242-1245; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-019-0663-9

W. Schweinberger, L. Vamos, J. Xu, S.A. Hussain, C. Baune, S. Rode, and I. Pupeza (2019) Interferometric delay tracking for low-noise Mach-Zehnder-type scanning measurements. Opt. Express 27, 4789-479; https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.27.004789

L. Šiaudinytė, G. Molnar, R. Köning, J. Flügge (2018) Multi-dimensional grating interferometer based on fibre-fed measurement heads arranged in Littrow configuration. MEAS SCI TECHNOL 29; https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6501/aaa8b4

O.C. Haenssler, S. Fatikow, D. Theron (2018) Multimodal imaging technology by integrated scanning electron, force, and microwave microscopy and its application to study microscaled capacitors. J VAC SCI TECHNOL B. 36, 022901; https://doi.org/10.1116/1.5006161

Q.S. Wang, K.H. Zhang, Y. Cui, Z.J. Wang, Q.Y. Pan, K. Liu, B. Sun, H. Zhou, M.J. Li, Q. Xu, C.Y. Xu, F. Yu, J.H. He (2018) Upgrade of macromolecular crystallography beamline BL17U1 at SSRF. NUCL SCI TECH 29, 68; https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-018-0398-9