Experience Picosecond Time-Resolved Cathodoluminescence
Attolight brings a novel spectroscopic tool to the market with unprecedented time and space resolution. It is the ideal tool for local lifetime and carrier dynamics measurements.
Research and development teams in nanophotonics and nanoelectronics lack suitable characterization tools. Picoseconds and nanometers are the typical time and space scales of the nanoworld. Current techniques can either image nanoscopic objects or picosecond dynamics, but not both. Attolight solves this problem and provides a unique ultrafast spectroscopy tool featuring BOTH nanometer spatial resolution AND picosecond temporal resolution.
The gap between ultrafast optical spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy
Today, your choice to investigate the dynamics of nanoscale systems is limited. On the one hand, ultrafast optical methods enable you to obtain sub-picosecond information. However they can only resolve to the micron level and have a limited depth of focus and contrast. You obtain temporal information averaged over a large ensemble of nano-objects. On the other hand, scanning electron microscopes provide you nanometer resolution, but cannot achieve picosecond time resolution without compromising on spatial resolution. For the first time, Attolight offers you the best of both worlds by combining ultrafast optical spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy in one integrated picosecond time-resolved cathodoluminescence microscope.
Ultrafast pulsed electron source
Attolight’s core technology is based on an innovative fiber based photocathode pumped by an ultrafast UV laser. With such an electron source, picosecond electron pulses are produced. No additional elements, like beam blanking units, have to be inserted in the electron column. This ensures the stability of the electron beam and a high spatial resolution.
Time-resolved cathodoluminescence detection
To measure dynamics at the nanoscale, time-resolved cathodoluminescence is the ideal detection mode. It is a time-resolved local excitation spectroscopy technique. You choose an excitation point, send an electron pulse, collect the outgoing light and resolve it spectrally and temporally. You directly measure local carrier lifetimes and deduce carrier dynamics from lifetime contrast between different excitation points.
Attolight and its partners HORIBA Jobin Yvon and Hamamatsu Photonics provide you with a unique time-resolved cathodoluminescence detection solution. It features high-end light collection, spectral analysis and multi-channel picosecond temporal detection.