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arXiv:1608.06922 · Physical Review Applied

Scanning Quantum Cryogenic Atom Microscope

Fan Yang, Alicia J. Kollár, Stephen Taylor, Richard W. Turner, Benjamin Lev

Published Mar 27, 2017• 36 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Microscopic imaging of local magnetic fields provides a window into the inner workings of complex and technologically relevant materials. The authors present an extremely sensitive scanning-probe microscope for imaging charge transport in strongly correlated and topologically nontrivial systems, from ambient down to liquid-helium temperature. This scanning quantum cryogenic atom microscope (SQCRAMscope) will change research spanning disciplines from basic condensed matter physics to the engineering of hybrid quantum systems.

DOI
10.1103/physrevapplied.7.034026

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Microscopic imaging of local magnetic fields provides a window into the inner workings of complex and technologically relevant materials. The authors present an extremely sensitive scanning-probe microscope for imaging charge transport in strongly correlated and topologically nontrivial systems, from ambient down to liquid-helium temperature. This scanning quantum cryogenic atom microscope (SQCRAMscope) will change research spanning disciplines from basic condensed matter physics to the engineering of hybrid quantum systems.
Microscopic imaging of local magnetic fields provides a window into the organizing principles of complex and technologically relevant condensed-matter materials.However, a wide variety of intriguing strongly correlated and topologically nontrivial materials exhibit poorly understood phenomena outside the detection capability of state-of-the-art high-sensitivity high-resolution scanning probe magnetometers.We introduce a quantum-noise-limited scanning probe magnetometer that can operate from room-to-cryogenic temperatures with unprecedented dc-field sensitivity and micron-scale resolution.The Scanning Quantum Cryogenic Atom Microscope (SQCRAMscope) employs a magnetically levitated atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), thereby providing immunity to conductive and blackbody radiative heating.The SQCRAMscope has a field sensitivity of 1.4 nT per resolution-limited point (approximately 2 μm) or 6 nT= ffiffiffiffiffiffi Hz p per point at its duty cycle.Compared to point-by-point sensors, the long length of the BEC provides a naturally parallel measurement, allowing one to measure nearly 100 points with an effective field sensitivity of 600 pT= ffiffiffiffiffiffi Hz p for each point during the same time as a point-by-point scanner measures these points sequentially.Moreover, it has a noise floor of 300 pT and provides nearly 2 orders of magnitude improvement in magnetic flux sensitivity (down to 10 -6 Φ 0 = ffiffiffiffiffiffi Hz p ) over previous atomic probe magnetometers capable of scanning near samples.These capabilities are carefully benchmarked by imaging magnetic fields arising from microfabricated wire patterns in a system where samples may be scanned, cryogenically cooled, and easily exchanged.We anticipate the SQCRAMscope will provide charge-transport images at temperatures from room temperature to 4 K in unconventional superconductors and topologically nontrivial materials.
The Scanning Quantum Cryogenic Atom Microscope (SQCRAMscope) is a quantum sensor in which a quasi-1D quantum gas images electromagnetic fields emitted from a nearby sample. We report improvements to the microscope. Cryogen usage is reduced by replacing the liquid cryostat with a closed-cycle system and modified cold finger, and cryogenic cooling is enhanced by adding a radiation shield. The minimum accessible sample temperature is reduced from 35~K to 5.7~K while maintaining low sample vibrations. A new sample mount is easier to exchange, and quantum gas preparation is streamlined.
The SQCRAMscope is a recently realized Scanning Quantum CRyogenic Atom Microscope that utilizes an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate to measure magnetic fields emanating from solid-state samples. The quantum sensor does so with unprecedented DC sensitivity at micron resolution from room-to-cryogenic temperatures. An additional advantage of the SQCRAMscope is the preservation of optical access to the sample: Magnetometry imaging of, e.g., electron transport may be performed in concert with other imaging techniques. This multimodal imaging capability can be brought to bear with great effect in the study of nematicity in iron-pnictide high-temperature superconductors, where the relationship between electronic and structural symmetry-breaking resulting in a nematic phase is under debate. Here, we combine the SQCRAMscope with an in situ microscope that measures optical birefringence near the surface. This enables simultaneous and spatially resolved detection of both bulk and near-surface manifestations of nematicity via transport and structural deformation channels, respectively. By performing the first local measurement of emergent resistivity anisotropy in iron pnictides, we observe sharp, nearly concurrent transport and structural transitions. More broadly, these measurements demonstrate the SQCRAMscope's ability to reveal important insights into the physics of complex quantum materials.
Abstract There is a rich of electric phenomena ubiquitously existing in novel quantum materials and advanced electronic devices. Microscopic understanding of the underlying physics relies on the sensitive and quantitative measurements of the electric field, electric current, electric potential, and other related physical quantities with a spatial resolution down to nanometers. Combined with a scanning probe microscope (SPM), the emergent quantum sensors of atomic/nanometer size provide promising platforms for imaging various electric parameters with a sensitivity beyond a single electron/charge. In this perspective, we introduce the working principle of such newly developed technologies, which are based on the strong sensitivity of quantum systems to external disturbances. Then we review the recent applications of those quantum sensors in nanoscale electric sensing and imaging, including a discussion of their privileges over conventional SPM techniques. Finally, we propose some promising directions for the future developments and optimizations of quantum sensors in nanoscale electric sensing and imaging.
The use of qubits as sensitive nanoscale magnetometers has been studied theoretically and recently demonstrated experimentally. In this paper we propose a new concept, in which a scanning two-state quantum system is used to probe a sample through the subtle effects of decoherence. Mapping both the Hamiltonian and decoherence properties of a qubit simultaneously provides a unique image of the magnetic (or electric) field properties at the nanoscale. The resulting images are sensitive to the temporal as well as spatial variation in the fields created by the sample. As examples we theoretically study two applications; one from condensed matter physics, the other biophysics. The individual components required to realize the simplest version of this device (characterization and measurement of qubits, nanoscale positioning) have already been demonstrated experimentally.
Matter at the atomic-scale is inherently governed by the laws of quantum mechanics. This makes charges and spins confined to individual atoms—and interactions among them—an invaluable resource for fundamental research and quantum technologies alike. However, harnessing the inherent ‘quantumness’ of atomic-scale objects requires that they can be precisely engineered and addressed at the individual atomic level. Since its invention in the 1980s, scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) has repeatedly demonstrated the unrivalled ability to not only resolve but manipulate matter at atomic length scales. Over the past decades, this has enabled the design and investigation of bottom-up tailored nanostructures as reliable and reproducible platforms to study designer quantum physics and chemistry, band topology, and collective phenomena. The vast range of STM-based techniques and modes of operation, as well as their combination with electromagnetic fields from the infrared to microwave spectral range, has even allowed for the precise control of individual charge and spin degrees of freedom. This roadmap reviews the most recent developments in the field of atomically-engineered quantum platforms and explores their potential in future fundamental research and quantum technologies.