Two EPFL spin-offs deploy new nanoprobing solution in Hong Kong

08.07.2024

In collaboration with Imina Technologies, Attolight has launched a new nanoprobing option on its Allalin Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)-Spectroscopic platform. The resulting Allalin-miBots have now been deployed in Hong Kong.

Currently, Attolight stands alone as the only provider of fully integrated cathodoluminescence (CL) systems. The company designs, builds, and optimizes both electron and light optics to obtain high-efficiency CL collection while keeping the products simple to operate. The company’s Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)-Spectroscopic platform is a nanometer resolution spectroscopy instrument, based on a unique and patented system including an optical collection objective integrated within the SEM column. It includes a wide range of analytical SEM tools like CL, Photoluminescence (PL), Time-Resolved CL and PL, and Electron-Beam-Induced Current (EBIC) analyses, and multiple options can be adapted on the platform.

Most recently, in collaboration with Imina Technologies’ team, experts in integrating electrical probing solutions into optical and electron microscopes and other analytical tools, Attolight has developed a new nanoprobing option on the Allalin SEM platform, creating a new nanoprobing solution that expands the platform’s current capabilities with electrical characterization, actuation and nanomanipulation on scales as low as just a few nanometres.

Compact and robust, Imina Technologies’ miBots integrate seamlessly into the Allalin platform thanks to the clearance between the sample and the pole piece, as well as to the unique optical collection system integrated into the SEM column. As a result, the quality and speed of SEM and CL scanning are as high as in all Allalin systems.

The first Allalin-miBots platform has been installed in Prof. Choi’s Laboratory at the University of Hong Kong, marking a significant milestone in the integration of Imina Technologies' miBots with Attolight's Allalin platform.The Allalin-miBots will allow researchers to perform simultaneous in-situ SEM, CL and electrical device characterization for a deeper understanding of semiconductor materials properties.

“We are very proud of delivering this one-of-a-kind solution, and it was an excellent experience to collaborate with Attolight. Allalin with integrated miBots is designed to offer deeper insights into fundamental properties of various materials, and I am sure it will help to propel materials science and semiconductor research forward. I am looking forward to the first results and to deploying more of these advanced systems.” – says Guillaume Boetsch, co-founder of Imina Technologies.

“Imina Solutions is renowned for its high-quality nanoprobing technologies, and we are thrilled to introduce this new feature on our Allalin platform. Researchers will benefit from a unique implementation tailored for advanced semiconductor and materials studies. We are already receiving new orders for this integration and eagerly anticipate the first results,” says Nicolas Medard, Head of Analytical Sales at Attolight AG.

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