The philosophy of the VT series is to provide a maximum temperature range. Therefore heating is integrated in the sample plate and the cooling connection is removable in UHV. The heating and cooling concept covers a temperature range from 25 K to 1500 K. The VT series uses dedicated sample plates for different temperature ranges.

Available as options are sample plates for sample preparation with e-beam heating or sample plates with integrated temperature read-out.

The VT XA design forms a new series of VT instruments using standard Omicron samples plates. The philosophy of the XA series is to provide maximum compatibility with many different surface science techniques, like MBE, RHEED and different kinds of electron spectroscopy. The heating and cooling concept uses a firm cooling connection and an embedded heater element to cover a temperature range from 50 K to 650 K.
Standard Omicron sample plates are available in Mo, Ta or stainless steel. Maximum sample size is 11 mm x 11 mm.

The VT STM utilises a scanned tip design with a single tube scanner which has a scan range (xyz) of 12 μm × 12 μm × 1.5 μm. The tips are exchangeable in-situ. The first I/V conversion stage is located in-situ, close to the scanner in order to achieve the best signal-to-noise ratio and optimal performance. The scanner is mounted on an independent, orthogonal, and guided 3D coarse positioning device with 10 mm × 10 mm × 10 mm travel in xyz direction comment. An upgrade to QPlus AFM is available.

The VT AFM is an atomic force microscope with beam deflection detection and a scanned tip design. The single tube scanner has a scan range (xyz) of 10 μm × 10 μm × 1.5 μm.
It uses remote controlled mirror motors for beam adjustment and a position sensitive photo diode detector. Operation modes include contact mode with normal force/lateral force detection and non-contact modes (i.e. NC-AFM, SKPM, EFM, MFM). The VT AFM also includes STM detection with the first I/V conversion stage in-situ, located close to the scanner in order to achieve best signal-to-noise ratio and optimal performance.
The scanner is mounted on an independent, orthogonal, and guided 3D coarse positioning device with 10 mm × 10 mm × 10 mm travel in xyz direction. An upgrade for QPlus AFM is available.

The ‘QPlus sensor’  is based on a quartz tuning fork and a new approach for non-contact atomic force microscopy. Due to the stiffness of the QPlus sensor (spring constant ~ 1800 N/m), it can be operated with smaller oscillation amplitudes compared to conventional cantilevers. The sensor is also useful for AFM navigation of an STM tip and subsequent STM imaging and spectroscopy. Due to the stiffness and the use of solid metal tips, stable STM operation can be achieved using the Q-Plus sensor. The QPlus sensor is therefore ideal for the inclusion in STM‘s, and also as a complementary sensor for beam deflection instruments.

Ballistic electron emission microscopy (BEEM) is a technique for studying ballistic electron transport in a variety of materials and material interfaces. BEEM is a three terminal scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) technique. While performing BEEM, electrons are injected from a STM tip into the surface. A small fraction of these electrons travel through the sample and are collected at the backside of the sample. For the detection of the BEEM current a second in-vacuum I/V converter and preamplifier are added to the Variable Temperature SPM. BEEM VT sample plates are provided.