RHK Testimonials Overview

We recently won a DoD DURIP award to build up a custom system for atomic-resolution studies of laser/surface interactions, starting from a foundation of an existing UHV chamber. RHK was able to provide a 'bolt-on' PanScan stage and flange that was integrated into the chamber and producing images within a week. The optical access ports and small stage size allowed us to integrate an in situ objective optic to tightly focus light onto the tunnel junction. In the second project, we chose an RHK PanScan head to replace an existing custom-built STM that had fallen into disrepair in my lab. As the cohort of PhD students who designed and built this STM have long since moved on, we just didn't have the time to maintain the instrument and still make the necessary progress on our funded programs. The small size of the RHK stage and the compatibility with our existing sample holders and vacuum chamber were big selling points, and the new head is already up and running on the table top. The relatively simple wiring requirements will allow us to quickly integrate this stage into the existing cryostat for low temperature measurements.

Having used RHK's analog (Legacy) controllers for many years, my group has obtained tons of high quality STM/STS data. Now moving to digital, we only expect more and even better results! Another big plus with RHK is their quick responsiveness whenever we have had an issue (not very often). They normally get back to you the same day if not the same hour with detailed information.

RHK's value, in terms of performance as well as support, is in my view very high, and it is clear that their R9plus controller is competitive with the best on the market today.

In searching for a solution for co-localizing multiple AFM probes within one system, we became aware of the work done by the Pertsch group at the University of Jena where they had developed, in collaboration with RHK Technology, a method to automatically avoid the collision and damage of the two delicate fiber probes of their [AV: Pertsch’s Nanonics ??] dual-probe NSOM system. While the Pertsch group had used a commercially available microscope, we decided to build our own microscope to have more experimental flexibility and optimize the performance of our specific applications. We contacted RHK and they worked closely with us to integrate their controller with our microscope’s nine axes of scanning and six axes of coarse positioning. All of the electronics required to control these stages as well as the numerous PLLs and lock-in amplifiers are integrated into a single R9plus controller, reducing the complexity of the overall system. Other controllers that we considered could not match this level of capacity, capability, and integration within one system. The design of the R9plus controller allows us to flexibly configure all of the hardware and firmware modules without the need to reconfigure any cables.

We were confident to work with RHK due to our group member's previous experience with their controller and their reputation for high quality products. In working with RHK to develop a solution for our needs they were extremely helpful in developing technical solutions which met our specific needs. We look forward to working with them as we work through the assembly of our system and begin getting our system fully operational. RHK will be working with us to customize the software to exactly meet our experimental requirements and make the operation as efficient as possible.

For example, we have performed first measurements of heat transport in atomic junctions (L. Cui et al., Science (2017)) and showed how quantum properties are observed even at room temperature in atomic junctions. More recently, we have further improved our techniques to probe thermal transport in single molecule junctions (L. Cui et al., Nature (2019)).

I must point out that these advances have been greatly enabled by the willingness of RHK to work with us in custom-designing the scanner of the STM to accommodate the probes that we nanofabricate at Michigan. The students who have graduated from my group and moved on to independent academic positions are also considering purchasing an RHK instrument for their future work.

All these physicists walking by and taping on it did not make any difference… It is very impressive! Having worked with an STM for a couple of years, I can clearly appreciate the magnitude of this fantastic accomplishment by RHK Technologies. I am totally confident in our choice.... a custom built mK STM/c-AFM from RHK, to be delivered to us soon ….

The stability was superb and I loved
immensely the closed circuit of He gas. This is so cool and so great at a time when getting liquid He is not an easy thing (not to speak of the cost). I wish I had money right now to buy one!

The cryo-free feature makes it much more affordable than conventional cryogenic SPMs. This new microscope should be a dream platform for many customers who have a small budget but a high passion for quality SPM work.

It is amazing that such results could be obtained with a closed-cycle cryostat. That you could get equally good results with the system running just sitting on the floor in the exhibition hall during the AVS conference is nothing short of remarkable! Your system is definitely on my wish list for a future purchase.

I appreciate the flexibility on the part of RHK to work within the constraints of my start-up budget, allowing me to begin my experiments with a state-of-the-art STM system with the ability to add capabilities (e.g. vacuum system, cryogenics, etc.) at a later time as funding becomes available.

Everyone at RHK has been extremely responsive to questions I have had spanning from questions about software functions, the ability to customize measurements, electronics, hardware, and inquiries for new
system components and upgrades. I have and will continue to highly recommend RHK to other researchers looking to construct a high-quality STM system and who would like to work with a company which is very responsive to their questions and needs.

We were very happy with the performance of our original PanScan microscope with the flow cryostat, but the cost of liquid helium prevented us from cooling to helium temperatures on a regular basis. Now that we have upgraded to the closed-cycle version, we can stay at the base temperature all the time. This is much more productive for our research. We were very happy that we did not need to make any changes to our existing STM or preparation chambers and the upgrade only took a few days. I would recommend the PanScan Freedom to anyone who wants low noise and high stability STM measurements.

Our microscopes require very different driving signals. The R9 can support those requirements easily by simply reorganizing the IHL file. There are so many high voltage output ports. The most important is that all of those outputs are independent. Even for very complicated operation, it is very easy to be realized.

Very easy to use. When acquiringspectroscopy, a lot of fl exibilities with a very precise adjustment of the tunneling junctions.

This makes the experiment very flexible. All the functions we need can be realized by slightly modifying the IHL file.

The internal lock-in has stability and resolution which is comparable to the industry standard SRS 830 and for us that is a big plus of R9. Another plus of R9 is the convenience of use.