March 3 - 8, 2024: APS March Meeting, booth 1144

We will be present at the APS March Meeting in Minneapolis, March 3 to 8. Visit us at booth #1144. We will be bringing our instruments and our experts to help you reach your scientific goals. We are looking forward to meeting you in Minneapolis!

October 24 - 25, 2023: IEEE quantum computing workshop

Our employee Marina Kudra has been invited to give a talk at IEEE workshop on quantum computing: devices, cryogenic electronics and packaging being held at SEMI World Hdqtrs, Milpitas, CA USA.

September 5 - 8, 2023: FPGA4QC conference

Our industrial PhD student Mats Tholen has been invited to give a talk at FPGA Technology for Quantum Computing conference in Gothenburg, Sweden.

29 August - 01 September 2023: SQA conference

Visit our boot at Superconducting Qubits and Algorithms Conference in Munich, Germany. Attend the talk from our employee:

August 17, 2023: New publication, Presto performs in multi-frequency cavity electro-mechanics experiment

A recent publication by KTH demonstrated phase-sensitive electro-mechanical transduction via strain-dependent kinetic inductance. Presto was the only instrument needed to implement a multi-frequency measurement with one mechanical pump (MHz) and two microwave pumps (GHz), while measuring response at a 4th microwave frequency, with all frequencies having the same phase reference. The interferometric measurement scheme is known as 'back action evasion' in the cavity opto-mechanics literature. Read more about it here.

June 6 - 9, 2023: Frontiers of Nanomechanical Systems FNS/2023 conference

We are excited to meet you at the Frontiers of Nanomechanical Systems conference FNS/2023 in Delft from 6-9th of June. We are bringing our Multifrequency Lockin Amplifier MLA-3 and the 'Rack in a Box' microwave measurement platform Presto. It is a perfect opportunity for you to get to see our amazing FPGA and RFSoC based instruments in action.

November 1, 2022: Presto featured on AIP Scilight

The recent article decribing Presto and its control of a quantum processor was highlighted on Scilights, which "showcase the most interesting research across the physical sciences published in AIP Publishing Journals."

Read Amping up quantum computing technologies by Alane Lim to learn how "Presto, an all-digital microwave instrument, improves scalability of qubit systems."

Read on Scilight

May 31, 2022: New paper on controlling a quantum computer with Presto

In a paper just made public on the arXiv our Mats Tholén and Riccardo Borgani together with researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Chalmers University of Technology demonstrate how the Presto microwave signal generation and analysis platform can be used to control a superconducting quantum computer. The paper demonstrate single qubit operations such as Rabi oscillations, DRAG-compensated control pulses, randomized benchmarking and readout-reset utilizing the feedback capabilities of Presto, as well as characerization of a two-qubit iSWAP gate.

The work was supported by Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation through the Wallenberg Centre for Quantum Technology (WACQT) and Wallenberg Launch Pad (WALP).

Update 2022-10-31
The paper is now peer reviewed and published as a Featured Article on the Review of Scientific Instruments:
"Measurement and control of a superconducting quantum processor with a fully integrated radio-frequency system on a chip,"
Rev. Sci. Instrum. 93, 104711 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0101398

Read paper

Feb 24, 2022: New shorter domain name: intermod.pro

We have decided to change our main domain name from intermodulation-products.com to the much shorter intermod.pro. Any old URLs you have will still work and automatically redirect to the new. Likewise you can still send emails to addresses using the longer domain name and they will be automatically forwarded. Emails that you receive from us will from now on will however come from @intermod.pro addresses.

The company name has not changed, we are still Intermodulation Products, but now it is much easier and quicker to type or communicate the domain.

Dec 6, 2021: Fast spectroscopic mapping of 2D quantum materials

Researchers at University of Zurich in Switzerland and Hokkaido University in Japan have recently published a paper in Physical Review Research in which they achieved orders of magnitude faster spectroscopic mapping in Scanning Tunneling Microscopy.

The paper combines two concepts to achieve the speed up: sparse sampling of the position on the surface and "parallel spectroscopy", simultaneous measurement of many harmonics of the signal. The measurements were realized using our MLA-3 and were demonstrated on a Bismuth Strontium Calcium Cupper Oxide (Bi2212) surface, a material with interesting high-temperature superconducting properties.

Click below to read the full paper "Fast spectroscopic mapping of two-dimensional quantum materials", Berk Zengin, Jens Oppliger, Danyang Liu, Lorena Niggli, Tohru Kurosawa, and Fabian D. Natterer. Phys. Rev. Research 3, L042025

Go to paper

Oct 20, 2021: Invited talk at TechConnect 2021

Daniel Forchheimer was invited to this year's TechConnect conference in Washington DC to talk about the application of various machine learning techniques such as clustering to Intermodulation AFM. Due to the corona travel restrictions he was unfortunately not able to go in person, instead a pre-recorded presentation was displayed and he attended live Q&A over Zoom. If you also did not attend the conference, click below to watch the presentation.

Watch presentation

Aug 7, 2021: Intermodulation on the front-page

Researchers at Luleå University of Technology, The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and Ca' Foscari University of Venice has recently published a paper on characterization of nano-rod heterojunctions using a combination of Intermodulation AFM modes. The paper was published in RSC Nanoscale Advances and was featured on the front-page of the issue.

The new paper applies and extends the method by Borgani et al, where multiple harmonics together with careful phase analysis is used to obtain high speed IV curves. We call this method Intermodulation Conducting Atomic Force Microscope (ImCAFM) and it was implemented using the Multifrequency Lockin Amplifier (MLA-3) and Multifrequency AFM kit on a Nanowizard AFM from JPK Instruments AG. The researchers explain that it is now possible to "follow the instantaneous local variation of the photocurrent, giving a two-dimensional (2D) map of the current–voltage curves and correlating the electrical and morphological features of the heterostructured core–shell nanorods".

Click below to read the full paper "Nanoscale characterization of an all-oxide core–shell nanorod heterojunction using intermodulation atomic force microscopy (AFM) methods", Nanoscale Adv., 2021, 3, 4388-4394.

Go to paper

May 4, 2021: New white paper on direct digital synthesis for quantum applications

We have just published a new technical note On digital synthesis and detection of microwave signals for quantum technology. The paper explains how recent progress in equipment for high speed telecommunication can be repurposed to realize microwave experiments for quantum technology in a much more efficient way than was previously possible.

Our test and measurement-platform Vivace is one such device which make these capabilities readily available for researchers around the world.

See all technical notes

March, 2021: APS march meeting talks

There are multiple talks at this year's online APS march meeting either about our products, or using our products, especially Vivace and the upcoming even higher frequency Presto platform. Here is a selection:

February 2, 2021: MLA-3 used to study mode coupling in AFM

Abhilash Chandrashekar ans his co-workers at the Precision and Microscystems Engineering group at TU Delft have published a paper on mode coupling in Atomic Force Microscope cantilevers. By careful manipulation of the drive frequencies they observed a 7-fold and 16-fold increase in the sensitivity of the 6th and 17th harmonic. Measurements were performed with the help of the MLA-3.

Go to paper

October 20, 2020: MLA-3 tracks multiple resonances

The team of Diethelm Johannsmann at TU Clausthal have demonstrated tracking of up to four different resonances with the MLA. The paper titled "A Quartz Crystal Microbalance, Which Tracks Four Overtones in Parallel with a Time Resolution of 10 Milliseconds: Application to Inkjet Printing" was published in MDPI Sensors and is a beautiful extension of their previous work on using the MLA to track resonances in QCM.

Go to paper

September 1, 2020: Vivace introductory offer, 30% off

We are running an introductory offer for our high-frequency, quantum-technology ready, platform Vivace.

Contact us to learn more

July 16, 2020: Vivace measures squeezing and multi-modal correlations in a microwave acoustic cavity

Intermodulation Products new Vivace platform was used to reveal frequency-domain correlations in a multi-modal microwave resonator consisting of a surface acoustic waves cavity. Using the multifrequency lockin firmware, a team at Chalmers and KTH showed how tuned microwave frequency combs are used to create and measure microwave cluster states. With Vivace the team was able to do this without analog IQ mixers, thus greatly simplifying the measurement set-up and analysis. The work was recently released as a pre-print on arXiv.

Go to paper

May 27, 2020: Two recent AFM-papers

Recently two papers were published using two of our multifrequency AFM modes.

Junxue An et al., at Uppsala University studied PEGylated phospholipid coatings on silica microparticles. These kind of particles are of interest in the research of pulmonary drug delivery - drugs that are inhaled into the lungs. Nanomechanical mapping with Intermodulation AFM was used to confirm the presence of the coating and to study its homogeneity. The paper was published in Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2020.05.045.

Dmitry S. Kharitonov et al. used Intermodulation Electrostatic Force Microscopy (ImEFM) to study corrosion properties of an aluminum alloy in molybdate-containing NaCl solution. With the help of ImEFM, the authors were able to gain insight into the microstructure of the alloy and could visualize IMPs (intermetalic particles) on the surface. "The ImEFM technique provides a higher lateral resolution and high potential resolution than commonly applied lift-mode techniques, such as in scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy (SKPFM)", writes Kharitonov. The paper was published in Corrosion Science, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.corsci.2020.108658

April 6, 2020: MLA measures fast pH-mediated changes in viscosity in voltage-modulated QCM

Professor Johannsmann and co-workers at TU Clausthal and Boeringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH have published a paper in which the MLA is used for electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance. The paper titled "Fast pH-Mediated Changes of the Viscosity of Protein Solutions Studied with a Voltage-Modulated Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM)" was published in BioInterphases (Vol.15, Issue 2).

Go to paper

March 17: Vivace - a new high frequency platform

Due to the current ourbrake of Corona virus we obviously could not reveal our new product at the APS march meeting as intended. So instead we present Vivace, our new high frequency platform, right here on our webpage. Vivace has more inputs, more outputs and a much higher bandwidth of up to 4GHz compared to our 80MHz platform the MLA-3. At the same time it retains our signature sample perfect synchronization between inputs and outputs needed for multifrequency lockin and other phase coherent measurement schemes. Some early applications that we envision include readout and control of qubits.

Stay safe everyone!

Vivace product page

March 2 - 6 2020: Reveal new product at APS march meeting

We will reveal our latest product, Vivace, at the American Physical Society March meeting in Denver. Vivace is a new high frequency measurement platform aimed at among other things quantum computing research based on Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC with bandwidth up to 4 GHz. Visit our booth (#1305) to learn more about it and see it first hand!

There are also a number of presentations in the scientific program using our equipment and techniques:

APS march meeting exhibit

Nov 10, 2019: Ultrafast quarz crystal microbalance realized using MLA

A new paper been published demonstrating ultrafast QCMD (quarz crystal microbalance with dissipation) with the help of Intermodulation Products' Multifrequency Lockin Amplifier. The paper makes use of the ability to track changes in resonance frequency and quality factor, or more generally to track the admittance of a system at very high rates using coherent comb excitation.

"The MLA is a game changer to the QCM community. For measurements in liquids, millisecond time resolution becomes routine. When accumulation and averaging is applied to repetitive processes, the frequency noise can be in the millihertz range and even below." says Professor Diethelm Johannsmann at TU Clausthal, one of the corresponding authors of the study.

The paper is titled "An ultrafast quartz crystal microbalance based on a frequency comb approach delivers sub-millisecond time resolution" (DOI: 10.1063/1.5115979) and was published in Review of Scientific Instruments.

Go to paper

July 29 - Aug 2, 2019: Exhibiting at NC-AFM in Regensburg

We are an exhibitor at the 22nd International Conference on Non-contact Atomic Force Microscopy in Regensburg, Germany. We look forward to meeting you there. Click the link to read more about the conference. Two of the founders of Intermodulation Products, Dr. Daniel Platz and Dr. Daniel Forchheimer, are also presenting their scientific research at the conference.

June 23-26, 2019: Meet us at Transducers 2019 in Berlin

Intermodulation Products is a proud sponsor of Transducers 2019 and EUROSENSORS XXXIII held at the Estrel Congress Center in Berlin. Visit us in booth 50 from Monday to Wednesday and learn about our lockin products and multifrequency measurement capabilities. The event is one of the world's premier conferences on microelectromechanical-systems (MEMS). Read more about it by clicking the link below to the conference website.

April 19, 2019: Multifrequency method for measuring nonlinear current-voltage characteristics

Our Multifrequency Lockin Amplifier (MLA) was used to realize a new type of low-noise measurement of nonlinear current-voltage characteristics. The method solves many long-standing problems for such measurements in high-impedance nano-scale junctions, allowing for easy cancellation of parallel displacement current, separation of the galvanic and displacement currents flowing in the junction, as well as enhanced measurement speed due to parallel acquisition of many Fourier coefficients.

February 5, 2019: Customer publishes two papers using Intermodulation AFM

Researchers at Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) in Berlin have recently published two papers using Intermodulation AFM, studying boehmite nanoparticles embeded in an epoxy matrix. One paper in MDPI Polymers (https://doi.org/10.3390/polym11020235) combines Intermodulation AFM with scanning Kelvin Probe Microscopy (SKPM) while the other, published in Elsevier Polymer (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2018.12.054) studies the sample with both Intermodulation AFM for nanoscale resolution force measurements and with DMTA (dynamic mechanical thermal analysis) to obtain information about the crosslinking density of the matrix.Follow the links above for to read the open access papers. BAM is a senior scientific and technical Federal institute with responsibility to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy [in Germany]. It tests, researches and advises to protect people, the environment and material goods (BAM, about us).

January 28, 2019: Intermodulation used to reconstruct fast dynamics

Nanostructure Physics at KTH published a paper describing intermodulation spectroscopy as an alternative to pump-probe methods for reconstructing fast dynamics. The paper derives the theoretical limitations on this frequency-domain approach and it demonstrates the reconstruction of the fast (30 ns) decay of surface charge using multifrequency electrostatic force microscopy.

January 1, 2019: EU project QAFM is launched

Intermodulation Products is part of a new EU funded research project QAFM, financed by the FET-Open program. The project aims to apply ideas from the field of Opto-mechanics, and push toward a quantum-limited force sensor for dynamic AFM.

September, 2018: Superconducting Qubits

Intermodulation Products starts work on a new project to control and readout superconducting quantum bits, as part of a large Swedish consortium: the Wallenberg Center for Quantum Technology (WACQT).

August 20-24, 2018: Silver sponsor of SPM-on-SPM

Intermodulation Products is a silver sponsor of the 4th International Conference on Scanning Probe Microscopy on Soft and Polymeric Materials in Leuven, Belgium. We will exhibit our lockin amplifier and AFM applications and there will also be several talks from researchers using our techniques.

April 18-20, 2018: IMP at Multifrequency AFM 2018

Intermodulation Products will demonstrate the new third-generation multifrequency lockin, the MLA-3 at the 7th Multifrequency AFM conference in Madrid.

Update: Daniel Forchheimer of Intermodulation Products, won the 2nd prize poster award for his poster describing how machine learning algorithms such as K-means clustering could be used in combination with Intermodulation Atomic Force Microscopy.

Sept. 18-22, 2017: Intermodulation AFM on display at the EMRS in Warsaw.

Intermodulation Products will have a booth at the European Materials Research Society annual conference In Warsaw, Poland. Talks will be given by Riccardo Borgani and Daniel Forchheimer.

Aug. 9-16, 2017: Intermodulation lockin on display at LT-28

Intermodulaiton Products had a display booth and gave demonstrations at the 28th International Conference on Low Temperature Physics. Our Multifrequency Lockin Amplifier (MLA) is making in-roads in to the low temperature physics community, where it has been used to multiplex the readout of mechanical oscillators working in superfluid.

Nov. 4, 2016: Review article published

The journal Current Opinions in Colloid & Interface Science published an invited review article: 'Quantitative force microscopy from a dynamic point of view' . The article describes recent developments in dynamic AFM, placing Intermodulation AFM in a broader context.

August 17, 2016: Intermodulation EFM reveals hole traps in high voltage insulation materials

Intermodulation Electrostatic Force Microscopy (ImEFM) maps the surface potential with very with high spatial resolution. By applying a DC bias to the tip (not possible with standard KPFM) the method can also study how the surface potential changes with the injection and extraction of charges in an insulator. The method was used to study individual surface-modified aluminum oxide nanoparticles embedded in a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) matrix. This material is currently of great interest for high voltage transmission cables. The experimental results were explained with a simple band structure model where localized electronic states in the band gap (hole traps) exist in the vicinity of the nanoparticles. See our publication in Nano Letters.

March 30 - April 1, 2016: 6th Multifrequency AFM conference in Madrid

The latest results with Intermodulation AFM were reported: mechanical mapping of viscoelastic surfaces, high resolution surface potential maps of graphene, machine learning to optimize material contrast, and interaction analysis in terms of force kernels. Intermodulation Products demonstrated the 42 frequency lockin at the booth.

March 8-10, 2016: Intermodulation Products at DPG 2016, Regensburg, Stand no. 102

Come and visit us at the exibition of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, March 8-10, in Regensburg, Germany. Drop by booth 102, or if you would like to book a special meeting time, feel free to contact us at info@intermodulation-products.com.

January 26, 2016: Intermodulation Lockin recieves US Patent

The United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent to Intermodulation Products for the Intermodulation Lockin. The Intermodulation Analyser (ImLA)™ (also called Multifrequency Lockin Amplifier, MLA™) was preiously described in the Review of Scientific Instruments. The MLA™ enables Intermodulation Spectroscopy and Intermodulation Atomic Force Microscopy. Dr. Erik Tholén, CEO of Intermodulation Products AB and chief architect of the instrument reports: "We are really happy to see this patent come in to place, securing our technical innovation. Already in it's third generation, the MLA is starting to make a big impact in laboratories around the world. We're excited to get this fantastic instrument in to the hands of new users who want to develop there own multifrequency measurements."

October 14, 2015: Intermodulation AFM provides new insights to soft materials.

Intermodulation AFM makes ground breaking advancement in probing and understanding the viscoelastic properties of Soft material interfaces. A collaboration between the University of Mons and KTH Nanostructure Physics used Intermodulation AFM (ImAFM) and dynamic force quadratures to show that large amplitude surface motion results when dynamic AFM is performed on soft materials. Prof. David Haviland says of this work: "The observation of large amplitude surface motion changes our entire understanding of material property mapping with the AFM. No longer can we represent the interaction in terms of simple force-distance curves. ImAFM was instrumental in making these observations, and the moving surface model introduced in this work represents a new approach to probing viscoelasticity with the AFM."