In order to comply with hygienic requirements in the Covid-19 context by avoiding physical contact with microscope oculars, with immediate effect existing EBPG alignment microscopes can now be upgraded with a special hardware package consisting of a digital camera and a touch PC. The camera can be integrated into the optical path of the microscope and its image displayed on the touch PC screen. The latter is mounted on the frame of the alignment microscope so that the user can drive the microscope stage while observing its image on the touch PC screen instead of looking through the oculars.

While the touch PC has already been available as an option for the EBPG for some time, it has now been upgraded with a valuable new coordinate polling functionality. The touch PC now supports interfacing with the microscope stage coordinate display controller, and thus enables sample holder data to be transferred smoothly into the EBPG system or the specific job. Needless to say, the touch PC continues to provide original functions such as load lock control, terminal mode for accessing advanced scripting, and all other basic features.