For vacuum electronics, high criteria are placed on the materials of the individual components with respect to parameters such as TML (Total Mass Loss), RML (Recovered Mass Loss), CVCM (Collected Volatile Condensable Material) and WVR (Water Vapor Recovered).

The electronics themselves must be able to withstand the effects of microscope’s thermal preparation procedures, or to operate in an environment at extremely low temperatures and in a space saturated with electrons from the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).

The requirements for the development of electronics were further based on high criteria resulting from the application requirements of the atomic force microscope itself, which measures the topography of samples in the nanoscale at high resolution and therefore requires large amplification of electrical signals to maintain low noise.