No Arabic abstract
We present a scanning magnetic force sensor based on an individual magnet-tipped GaAs nanowire (NW) grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Its magnetic tip consists of a final segment of single-crystal MnAs formed by sequential crystallization of the liquid Ga catalyst droplet. We characterize the mechanical and magnetic properties of such NWs by measuring their flexural mechanical response in an applied magnetic field. Comparison with numerical simulations allows the identification of their equilibrium magnetization configurations, which in some cases include magnetic vortices. To determine a NWs performance as a magnetic scanning probe, we measure its response to the field profile of a lithographically patterned current-carrying wire. The NWs tiny tips and their high force sensitivity make them promising for imaging weak magnetic field patterns on the nanometer-scale, as required for mapping mesoscopic transport and spin textures or in nanometer-scale magnetic resonance.
Measuring single-electron charge is one of the most fundamental quantum technologies. Charge sensing, which is an ingredient for the measurement of single spins or single photons, has been already developed for semiconductor gate-defined quantum dots, leading to intensive studies on the physics and the applications of single-electron charge, single-electron spin and photon-electron quantum interface. However, the technology has not yet been realized for self-assembled quantum dots despite their fascinating quantum transport phenomena and outstanding optical functionalities. In this paper, we report charge sensing experiments in self-assembled quantum dots. We choose two adjacent dots, and fabricate source and drain electrodes on each dot, in which either dot works as a charge sensor for the other target dot. The sensor dot current significantly changes when the number of electrons in the target dot changes by one, demonstrating single-electron charge sensing. We have also demonstrated real-time detection of single-electron tunnelling events. This charge sensing technique will be an important step towards combining efficient electrical readout of single-electron with intriguing quantum transport physics or advanced optical and photonic technologies developed for self-assembled quantum dots.
Nanometer-scale structures with high aspect ratio such as nanowires and nanotubes combine low mechanical dissipation with high resonance frequencies, making them ideal force transducers and scanning probes in applications requiring the highest sensitivity. Such structures promise record force sensitivities combined with ease of use in scanning probe microscopes. A wide variety of possible material compositions and functionalizations is available, allowing for the sensing of various kinds of forces with optimized sensitivity. In addition, nanowires possess quasi-degenerate mechanical mode doublets, which has allowed the demonstration of sensitive vectorial force and mass detection. These developments have driven researchers to use nanowire cantilevers in various force sensing applications, which include imaging of sample surface topography, detection of optomechanical, electrical, and magnetic forces, and magnetic resonance force microscopy. In this review, we discuss the motivation behind using nanowires as force transducers, explain the methods of force sensing with nanowire cantilevers, and give an overview of the experimental progress and future prospects of the field.
We demonstrate the use of individual magnetic nanowires (NWs), grown by focused electron beam induced deposition (FEBID), as scanning magnetic force sensors. Measurements of their mechanical susceptibility, thermal motion, and magnetic response show that the NWs posses high-quality flexural mechanical modes and a strong remanent magnetization pointing along their long axis. Together, these properties make the NWs excellent sensors of weak magnetic field patterns, as confirmed by calibration measurements on a micron-sized current-carrying wire and magnetic scanning probe images of a permalloy disk. The flexibility of FEBID in terms of the composition, geometry, and growth location of the resulting NWs, makes it ideal for fabricating scanning probes specifically designed for imaging subtle patterns of magnetization or current density.
We report about a combined structural and magnetometric characterization of self-assembled magnetic nanoparticle arrays. Monodisperse iron oxide nanoparticles with a diameter of 20 nm were synthesized by thermal decomposition. The nanoparticle suspension was spin-coated on Si substrates to achieve self-organized arrays of particles and subsequently annealed at various conditions. The samples were characterized by x-ray diffraction, bright and dark field high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The structural analysis is compared to the magnetic behavior investigated by superconducting interference device (SQUID) magnetometry. We can identify either multi-phase FeO/g-Fe2O3 or multi-phase FeO/Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The FeO/g-Fe2O3 system shows a pronounced exchange bias effect which explains the peculiar magnetization data obtained for this system.
Classically coherent dynamics analogous to those of quantum two-level systems are studied in the setting of force sensing. We demonstrate quantitative control over the coupling between two orthogonal mechanical modes of a nanowire cantilever, through measurement of avoided crossings as we deterministically position the nanowire inside an electric field. Furthermore, we demonstrate Rabi oscillations between the two mechanical modes in the strong coupling regime. These results give prospects of implementing coherent two-mode control techniques for force sensing signal enhancement.