Flexible internal transporter with gravity-assisted mechanism for vertical transfer of microscope head

We present a flexible mechanism for vertically transferring scanning probe microscope (SPM) heads in ultra-high vacuum. The microscope head is transferred from a room temperature site down to an SPM pluggable connector at low temperatures within the bore of a superconducting magnet located in a top-loading cryostat. Insertion and extraction of the microscope head to and from the connector are accomplished with gravity-assisted tools. Contrasted with typical rigid designs, the low-profile mechanism described here has no external mounting structure, which reduces sensitivity to mechanical disturbances, decreases vacuum volume, and enables installation in standard laboratory spaces.