In this interview, industry expert Chris Schwalb provides an overview of the FusionScope®. He explains how this new instrument is transforming correlative microscopy with its innovative AFM-SEM integration, enabling efficient, high-resolution characterization of complex samples.
To start, tell us a bit about Quantum Design and your role in the company.
For more than 40 years Quantum Design has been providing technology solutions to researchers in the fields of physics, chemistry, biotechnology, materials science and nanotechnology. Established in 1982 in San Diego, California, Quantum Design is the leading commercial source for automated materials characterization systems offering a variety of measurement capabilities.
With headquarters in the USA, and offices across Europe, Asia, and South America, QDI is strategically located in the world’s key centers for scientific research, providing local marketing, sales and technical support.
My name is Chris Schwalb, and I lead the Quantum Design Microscopy team at our European headquarters in Pfungstadt, Germany. With over 15 years of experience in the field of correlative microscopy, I have a deep passion for innovative technology. That's why I'm excited to introduce our new instrument – the FusionScope – the first truly correlative AFM-SEM microscopy platform.
What led to the development of the FusionScope®?
The FusionScope story began nearly a decade ago when Mike Simmonds, one of Quantum Design's co-founders, embarked on groundbreaking work with the e-scope—a miniature scanning electron microscope column that he largely developed on his own in his lab. He approached us with the idea of how this new column could become a complementary key feature in a highly integrated instrument, enabling advancements in correlative microscopy.
In addition, in 2018, Quantum Design completed its acquisition of GETec, a small Austrian company where I was working at the time. At GETec, we had developed a compact AFM scanner designed to operate seamlessly within the high-vacuum environment of stand-alone SEM systems.
This synergy of technologies inspired the vision for a combined AFM/SEM instrument that bridges both functionalities intuitively, efficiently, and seamlessly. Thus, the FusionScope development journey began.
Why do you believe the FusionScope is a game-changing instrument for the industrial and academic market?
The FusionScope is a groundbreaking instrument designed for both industrial and academic users. It is the first true correlative microscopy platform built from the ground up to seamlessly integrate the benefits of SEM and EDS imaging with a wide range of AFM measurement techniques. This innovation allows users to perform direct in-situ combinations of these complementary methods, thanks to the simultaneous operation of SEM and AFM within a single vacuum chamber.
One of its most exciting features is the ability to precisely navigate the AFM cantilever tip using the SEM. This capability enables users to analyze hard-to-reach sample areas and effortlessly locate nanometer-sized objects and structures on the sample surface.
Furthermore, all AFM, SEM, and EDS data can be directly correlated and integrated within a single software interface using FusionScope’s unified coordinate system. This streamlined approach provides an intuitive platform that saves time and resources, enabling comprehensive SEM, EDS, and AFM analyses across various sample types.
This measurement was obtained with a scan speed of kHz and consists of 70 individual measurements each 18 x 18 µm in size. Image Credit: Quantum Design, Inc.
What are the main differentiating features that you would like readers to understand about the product?
The correlated coordinate system is the core innovation of the FusionScope, serving as the foundation for its intuitive user experience. This system integrates AFM, SEM, and EDS operations into a unified “map,” enabling precise measurements and the seamless tracking of specific sample areas.
This unified approach supports automated features within the FusionScope software. For instance, users can identify an area of interest using the SEM, and the FusionScope will automatically locate that same area with the AFM. This not only saves time but also introduces a groundbreaking, interactive method for conducting AFM and SEM analyses.
SEM + AFM + EDS in one compact instrument. Image Credit: Quantum Design, Inc.
How does the FusionScope improve control and simplify the user experience?
A standout feature of the FusionScope is Profile View, which allows users to observe the AFM cantilever tip in action as it measures and positions itself on the sample region of interest. This capability is made possible because the AFM scan head and sample holder are mounted on a shared trunnion, allowing simultaneous tilting between -10° and +80° relative to the SEM beam. By visualizing the actual movement of the AFM tip in real time via the SEM, users gain an unprecedented level of control.
Another critical aspect of the FusionScope is its use of piezoresistive cantilevers with electric self-sensing deflection readout. This technology provides high-quality, low-noise surface property detection without the need for optical alignment. It simplifies the process of changing AFM tips and allows users to focus on capturing images by providing automated cantilever calibration an no need for continual laser alignement.
Image Credit: Quantum Design, Inc.
How are AFM and SEM integrated in order to complement each other and overcome their individual limitations?
The FusionScope leverages the complementary strengths of AFM and SEM, delivering a powerful new way of doing correlative microscopy: AFM offers real 3D topography information with sub-nm resolution, something that SEMs can only provide indirectly. In addition, AFM can also provide information of nano-mechanical properties, as well as magnetic and electrical characterization of samples, which is a blind spot for almost allSEMs.
On the other hand, AFMs are “chemically blind”. Here the SEM in combination with EDS can provide a detailed chemical analysis of the sample surface. In addition, SEM offers a wide field of view, which is critical in identifying regions of interest with feature sizes of less than a micron. These are notoriously difficult to find over larger spatial scales in conventional AFM systems. With the help of the high-resolution SEM, the AFM cantilever tip can be precisely navigated by the User to the desired sample area even for challenging three-dimensional topologies.
By integrating these powerful techniques into a single instrument, the FusionScope provides a seamless, efficient platform for exploring sample surfaces in ways that were previously impossible.
What are some unique applications that FusionScope allows the user to address?
The FusionScope provides users with a wide range of applications across diverse fields of research and development, including material characterization, the study of nanostructures, quality control, and failure analysis.
It is particularly effective for characterizing various nanostructures such as nanowires, 2D materials, and nanoparticles. For example, some of our customers focus on studying individual nanowires on TEM grids, where the SEM plays a crucial role in locating the nanowire and guiding the AFM tip for precise positioning on the grid. Similarly, the qualification of new materials—especially the identification and characterization of nanoparticles—is of significant interest, particularly to industrial users.
Recently, the integration of FusionScope with microprobing capabilities has gained increasing attention. This unique feature allows users to locally bias devices or specific surface areas while simultaneously measuring the conductive or magnetic properties of the sample. This capability highlights the versatility of the FusionScope and its potential for groundbreaking applications.
Image Credit: Quantum Design, Inc.
You have already sold and installed quite a few FusionScope systems. What feedback have you received from users?
After years of developments and testing, and now backed by a large team of engineers, scientists, and application researchers, we are thrilled that FusionScope has already been installed in laboratories worldwide even though it was only officially launched recently.
The feedback from users has been overwhelmingly positive, highlighting features such as the integrated user interface that seamlessly runs SEM, AFM, and EDS within a single software platform, and the ability to observe the AFM tip with the SEM in Profile View as it scans across the sample.
What truly stands out is the versatility of applications. Some users appreciate the ease-of-use and time efficiency for performing correlative measurements across various samples, while others leverage the system for highly specialized experiments that are only possible with the seamless integration of SEM and AFM in a single instrument.
We place a strong emphasis on maintaining close communication with our users, providing support for their cutting-edge measurements and experiments. This collaboration is vital to ensuring the FusionScope continues to evolve, consistently meeting and exceeding expectations.
Tell us about challenges in presenting the technology to people that haven’t experienced it before.
Presenting a groundbreaking technology like the FusionScope to individuals unfamiliar with its concepts can be both exciting and challenging.
Typically, the people we talk to are used to performing SEM and AFM in two separate systems. Therefore, we often must explain the benefits of combining both techniques in a single system and demonstrate how FusionScope enhances their capabilities without requiring a complete overhaul of their workflows.
Also, some potential users assume that a system combining multiple complex technologies is too difficult to operate. Here the easiest way to overcome their doubts is to let them try the system or see a hands-on demo to experience its ease of use firsthand.
In essence, this is a whole new way of thinking about and conducting correlative microscopy. It’s so much more than only having two microscopes in one unit. The joint coordinate system, SEM-imaging of the AFM tip using Profile View, and interaction of all these features within one user interface basically creates a novel new instrument allowing a completely different way to think about microscopic research and industry possibilities. When people finally understand this in our discussions you can see a light go on in their eyes.
What are the future plans for the FusionScope, e.g., the development roadmap and new types of applications?
With the FusionScope, Quantum Design has ventured into an entirely new market, beyond our traditional customer base, with a truly unique product. We are thrilled to be at the forefront of this new revolution in correlative microscopy, pushing the boundaries of AFM and SEM capabilities to unlock new levels of applications.
Our goal is to enhance these capabilities by introducing exciting new features and measurement options. This includes developing workflows that enable full automation of specific measurement tasks, integrating options for transferring samples under vacuum, and adding heating and cooling capabilities.
Through these advancements, we aim to continue evolving the FusionScope as the definitive correlative analysis platform for the future.
See the latest news about FusionScope®
About Chris Schwalb 
Chris, a physicist at heart with over 10 years of experience in R&D and project management, serves as the COO at QD Microscopy GmbH. He leads the team in driving the advancement of innovative correlative microscopy tools. Alongside overseeing daily operations, he develops new business strategies and ensures seamless communication with the parent company in San Diego.
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