纳米级自旋分离的铁磁共振成像研究

自旋间的相互作用力对原子级别纳米构造体磁性质的理解是极为重要的.磁交换力显微镜(MExFM)是测量原子磁矩相互作用力的一种创新手段,但是这种手段不能分离表面形貌和自旋信息.我们提出的铁磁共振磁交换力显微镜(FMR-MExFM)实现了磁性材料表面的磁交换力信息和表面形貌信息的分离.为了充分利用铁磁共振效应,高效率的微波照射机构是极为重要的一项.在本研究中,通过照射机构的仿真和优化设计得到了微波在同轴电缆间的衰减、照射机构直径以及同轴电缆-探针距离之间的关系,同时得到了最优化的实验条件,在此基础上提高了铁磁共振检测的灵敏度.运用改进后的FMR-MExFM,成功地完全分离了磁性信息和表面结构信息,实现了磁性信息N极和S极的180°的相位差.本研究对FMR-MExFM的开发、磁信息检测具有重要的作用.     

Chemical identification of individual surface atoms by atomic force microscopy

Scanning probe microscopy is a versatile and powerful method that uses sharp tips to image, measure and manipulate matter at surfaces with atomic resolution. At cryogenic temperatures, scanning probe microscopy can even provide electron tunnelling spectra that serve as fingerprints of the vibrational properties of adsorbed molecules and of the electronic properties of magnetic impurity atoms, thereby allowing chemical identification. But in many instances, and particularly for insulating systems, determining the exact chemical composition of surfaces or nanostructures remains a considerable challenge. In principle, dynamic force microscopy should make it possible to overcome this problem: it can image insulator, semiconductor and metal surfaces with true atomic resolution, by detecting and precisely measuring the short-range forces that arise with the onset of chemical bonding between the tip and surface atoms and that depend sensitively on the chemical identity of the atoms involved. Here we report precise measurements of such short-range chemical forces, and show that their dependence on the force microscope tip used can be overcome through a normalization procedure. This allows us to use the chemical force measurements as the basis for atomic recognition, even at room temperature. We illustrate the performance of this approach by imaging the surface of a particularly challenging alloy system and successfully identifying the three constituent atomic species silicon, tin and lead, even though these exhibit very similar chemical properties and identical surface position preferences that render any discrimination attempt based on topographic measurements impossible.     

Detecting excitation and magnetization of individual dopants in a semiconductor

An individual magnetic atom doped into a semiconductor is a promising building block for bottom-up spintronic devices and quantum logic gates. Moreover, it provides a perfect model system for the atomic-scale investigation of fundamental effects such as magnetism in dilute magnetic semiconductors. However, dopants in semiconductors so far have not been studied by magnetically sensitive techniques with atomic resolution that correlate the atomic structure with the dopant's magnetism. Here we show electrical excitation and read-out of a spin associated with a single magnetic dopant in a semiconductor host. We use spin-resolved scanning tunnelling spectroscopy to measure the spin excitations and the magnetization curve of individual iron surface-dopants embedded within a two-dimensional electron gas confined to an indium antimonide (110) surface. The dopants act like isolated quantum spins the states of which are governed by a substantial magnetic anisotropy that forces the spin to lie in the surface plane. This result is corroborated by our first principles calculations. The demonstrated methodology opens new routes for the investigation of sample systems that are more widely studied in the field of spintronics-that is, Mn in GaAs (ref. 5), magnetic ions in semiconductor quantum dots, nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond and phosphorus spins in silicon.     

Direct observation of the alignment of ferromagnetic spins by antiferromagnetic spins

The arrangement of spins at interfaces in a layered magnetic material often has an important effect on the properties of the material. One example of this is the directional coupling between the spins in an antiferromagnet and those in an adjacent ferromagnet, an effect first discovered in 1956 and referred to as exchange bias. Because of its technological importance for the development of advanced devices such as magnetic read heads and magnetic memory cells, this phenomenon has received much attention. Despite extensive studies, however, exchange bias is still poorly understood, largely due to the lack of techniques capable of providing detailed information about the arrangement of magnetic moments near interfaces. Here we present polarization-dependent X-ray magnetic dichroism spectro-microscopy that reveals the micromagnetic structure on both sides of a ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic interface. Images of thin ferromagnetic Co films grown on antiferromagnetic LaFeO3 show a direct link between the arrangement of spins in each material. Remanent hysteresis loops, recorded for individual ferromagnetic domains, show a local exchange bias. Our results imply that the alignment of the ferromagnetic spins is determined, domain by domain, by the spin directions in the underlying antiferromagnetic layer.     

导电原子力显微镜在介质薄膜电流图像检测中产生的假像

对导电原子力显微镜在介质层电流图像检测中存在的假像进行了研究。发现这种假像归因于导电探针针尖较大的直径,其大小与被检测样品表面的缺陷点、漏洞、沟穴大小相关。研究表明,为提高图像分辨率,避免检测过程中存在的假像,需要使用具有纳米直径针尖的超尖导电探针。     

Nanoscale imaging magnetometry with diamond spins under ambient conditions

Magnetic resonance imaging and optical microscopy are key technologies in the life sciences. For microbiological studies, especially of the inner workings of single cells, optical microscopy is normally used because it easily achieves resolution close to the optical wavelength. But in conventional microscopy, diffraction limits the resolution to about half the wavelength. Recently, it was shown that this limit can be partly overcome by nonlinear imaging techniques, but there is still a barrier to reaching the molecular scale. In contrast, in magnetic resonance imaging the spatial resolution is not determined by diffraction; rather, it is limited by magnetic field sensitivity, and so can in principle go well below the optical wavelength. The sensitivity of magnetic resonance imaging has recently been improved enough to image single cells, and magnetic resonance force microscopy has succeeded in detecting single electrons and small nuclear spin ensembles. However, this technique currently requires cryogenic temperatures, which limit most potential biological applications. Alternatively, single-electron spin states can be detected optically, even at room temperature in some systems. Here we show how magneto-optical spin detection can be used to determine the location of a spin associated with a single nitrogen-vacancy centre in diamond with nanometre resolution under ambient conditions. By placing these nitrogen-vacancy spins in functionalized diamond nanocrystals, biologically specific magnetofluorescent spin markers can be produced. Significantly, we show that this nanometre-scale resolution can be achieved without any probes located closer than typical cell dimensions. Furthermore, we demonstrate the use of a single diamond spin as a scanning probe magnetometer to map nanoscale magnetic field variations. The potential impact of single-spin imaging at room temperature is far-reaching. It could lead to the capability to probe biologically relevant spins in living cells.     

Manipulation of atoms across a surface at room temperature

Since the realization that the tips of scanning probe microscopes can interact with atoms at surfaces, there has been much interest in the possibility of building or modifying nanostructures or molecules directly from single atoms. Individual large molecules can be positioned on surfaces, and atoms can be transferred controllably between the sample and probe tip. The most complex structures are produced at cryogenic temperatures by sliding atoms across a surface to chosen sites. But there are problems in manipulating atoms laterally at higher temperatures--atoms that are sufficiently well bound to a surface to be stable at higher temperatures require a stronger tip interaction to be moved. This situation differs significantly from the idealized weakly interacting tips of scanning tunnelling or atomic force microscopes. Here we demonstrate that precise positioning of atoms on a copper surface is possible at room temperature. The triggering mechanism for the atomic motion unexpectedly depends on the tunnelling current density, rather than the electric field or proximity of tip and surface.     

Determination of hydration film thickness using atomic force microscopy

Surface forces between particles control phenomenasuch as dispersion, agglomeration, coatings, adhesion,wetting, friction, and polishing, which play a crucial rolein materials processing. The importance of surface forcesis more appreciated especially in colloidal processing,while materials in a colloidal state are frequently preferredin industrial processing operations (e.g., printing inks,toners, paints, skin creams, blood substitutes, gels used asdrug-delivery systems, etc.) because their lar…     

高能量分辨率扫描隧道谱的发展及其在单自旋态和低维超导电性研究的应用

在发展高能量分辨率扫描隧道谱的基础上,实现了基于自旋翻转的非弹性隧道谱,从而实现了对单自旋态的探测,并成功在单分子尺度上研究了自旋间的超交换作用.还探测到了磁性原子在超导能隙中诱导的多重束缚态,并利用这些束缚态在单原子尺度上研究了自旋间的相互作用,在实空间实现了对单个原子的化学识别.利用低温扫描隧道谱,证明生长在Si基片的单原子层厚的铅和铟薄膜为超导体,这是至今报道的最薄的超导体.     

Imaging the atomic arrangements on the high-temperature reconstructed alpha-Al2O3(0001) surface.

Alumina is a technologically important oxide crystal because of its use as a catalyst and as a substrate for microelectronic applications. A precise knowledge of its surface atomic structure is a prerequisite for understanding and controlling the physical processes involved in many of its applications. Here we use a dynamic scanning force microscopy technique to image directly the atomic structure of the high-temperature phase of the alpha-Al2O3(0001) surface. Evidence for a surface reconstruction appears as a grid of protrusions that represent a rhombic unit cell, and we confirm that the arrangement of atoms is in the form of surface domains with hexagonal atomic order at the centre and disorder at the periphery. We show that, on exposing the surface to water and hydrogen, this surface structure is important in the formation of hydroxide clusters. These clusters appear as a regular pattern of rings that can be explained by self-organization processes involving cluster-surface and cluster-cluster interactions. Alumina has long been regarded as the definitive test for atomic-resolution force microscopy of insulators so the whole class of insulating oxides should now open for direct atomic-scale surface investigations.     

Single spin detection by magnetic resonance force microscopy

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is well known as a powerful technique for visualizing subsurface structures with three-dimensional spatial resolution. Pushing the resolution below 1 micro m remains a major challenge, however, owing to the sensitivity limitations of conventional inductive detection techniques. Currently, the smallest volume elements in an image must contain at least 10(12) nuclear spins for MRI-based microscopy, or 10(7) electron spins for electron spin resonance microscopy. Magnetic resonance force microscopy (MRFM) was proposed as a means to improve detection sensitivity to the single-spin level, and thus enable three-dimensional imaging of macromolecules (for example, proteins) with atomic resolution. MRFM has also been proposed as a qubit readout device for spin-based quantum computers. Here we report the detection of an individual electron spin by MRFM. A spatial resolution of 25 nm in one dimension was obtained for an unpaired spin in silicon dioxide. The measured signal is consistent with a model in which the spin is aligned parallel or anti-parallel to the effective field, with a rotating-frame relaxation time of 760 ms. The long relaxation time suggests that the state of an individual spin can be monitored for extended periods of time, even while subjected to a complex set of manipulations that are part of the MRFM measurement protocol.     

磁控溅射GeSbTe相变薄膜黏附与摩擦特性

室温下通过调整磁控溅射时间制备了不同厚度的GeSbTe薄膜.利用原子力显微镜和台阶仪观察薄膜的表面形貌,测量薄膜厚度,并借助TriboIndenter纳米力学测试系统,分析探讨了薄膜的黏附和摩擦特性.研究结果表明:随着溅射时间的增加,薄膜表面粗糙度减小,厚度增加,同时表面质量提高;探针直径、相对湿度、薄膜表面质量以及探针载荷等因素对薄膜的黏附和摩擦特性均有重要影响;在满足存储要求的前提下,通过减小探针直径、降低相对湿度能够有效降低黏附力和摩擦力;而提高薄膜表面质量,为探针施加合适的载荷,有助于改善探针与薄膜表面之间的摩擦特性.     

原子力显微镜针尖与样品间的材料转移

研究氮化硅针尖在十八烷基三甲氧基硅烷 (OTE) /云母表面的修饰过程。使用原子力 /摩擦力显微镜 ,以云母作为参考样品 ,研究了针尖在样品表面的修饰效应和修饰后针尖的清洁过程 ,并考察了湿度和载荷对针尖修饰效应的影响。修饰过程不是一个渐进的过程 ,在最初几次摩擦扫描中修饰较快 ,然后在 10～ 2 0次扫描后达到平衡态。在 OTE/云母表面修饰后的针尖在云母表面的摩擦力信号比修饰前针尖在云母表面的摩擦力信号小 ,并且大部分吸附在针尖表面的 OTE分子在云母表面的前 10次扫描中就被磨掉。相对湿度对针尖的修饰效应影响不大。在研究不同样品的摩擦性能时 ,尽量使用清洁针尖 ,并使用摩擦性能稳定的参考样品 (如云母 )来检测针尖的表面状态     

一种实现纳米超微定位和超微加工的新方法

介绍了一种采用双单元扫描隧道显微镜实现纳米超微定位超微加工的新方法,双单元扫描隧道显微镜由两个Ｚ向同轴ＳＴＭ单元上下组合而成,分别作为样品测量加工单凶与参考定位单元,两者共用一个ＸＹ扫描器,参考定位单元以规则的晶格空间为参考,采用原子阵列伺服寻踪和针尖锁定剂到原子的技术,可以实现纳米级超微定位,与参考定位单元具有相同定位精度的样品测量加工单元采用电压脉冲法可以形成样品表面上的纳米级特征结构。     

对一种新型全有机复合薄膜的超高密度信息存储研究

用真空热壁法生长了一种新型全有机复合薄膜TTF/m-NBP(tetrathiofulvalene/m-nitrobenzylidene propanedinitrile)。用透射电子显微镜和傅立叶变换红外光谱对薄膜的表征结果证明,该制备方法能够生长出较大面积的化学结构完善的单晶薄膜。用原子力显微镜(AFM)和扫描隧道显微镜(STM)都观察到了TTF/m-NBP薄膜表面的原子级分辨像。通过STM针尖施加脉冲电压在TTF/m-NBP薄膜上实现了纳米级的信息存储,最小记录点直径约为1.2nm。扫描隧道谱分析表明TTF/m-NBP薄膜具有很好的电开关“记忆”特性。初步研究认为其电开关机制可能主要是脉冲电压诱发的TTF电子给体与m-NBP电子受体分子间的电荷转移的变化所致。     

Bose-Einstein condensates: microscopic magnetic-field imaging

Today's magnetic-field sensors are not capable of making measurements with both high spatial resolution and good field sensitivity. For example, magnetic force microscopy allows the investigation of magnetic structures with a spatial resolution in the nanometre range, but with low sensitivity, whereas SQUIDs and atomic magnetometers enable extremely sensitive magnetic-field measurements to be made, but at low resolution. Here we use one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates in a microscopic field-imaging technique that combines high spatial resolution (within 3 micrometres) with high field sensitivity (300 picotesla).     

利用原子力显微镜测量石英岩表面分子沉积膜的粘附力

对原子力显微镜（ＡＦＭ）探针测出的一条理想的力位移曲线进行了分析,推导出了根据实测的力位移曲线计算粘附力的公式。对表面分子沉积膜生长前后的石英岩和扫描探针之间的粘附力进行了实验研究,结果发现这种沉积膜可以降低石英岩表面的粘附力     

Elimination of bistability in constant-phase mode in atomic force microscopy

By presenting the phase properties of bistability in amplitude-modulation atomic force microscopy, we put forward a technique, the constant-phase mode, which may eliminate bistability. Using this approach, we keep the phase shift between driving and oscillation constant, slightly above -90°. In addition to the adjustment of the free amplitude, we add to amplitude-modulation atomic force microscopy another feedback so that the tip always oscillates in the high-amplitude state. A numerical simulation is carried out to demonstrate that the algorithm prevents bistability effectively.     

Transient ferromagnetic-like state mediating ultrafast reversal of antiferromagnetically coupled spins

Ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic spin ordering is governed by the exchange interaction, the strongest force in magnetism. Understanding spin dynamics in magnetic materials is an issue of crucial importance for progress in information processing and recording technology. Usually the dynamics are studied by observing the collective response of exchange-coupled spins, that is, spin resonances, after an external perturbation by a pulse of magnetic field, current or light. The periods of the corresponding resonances range from one nanosecond for ferromagnets down to one picosecond for antiferromagnets. However, virtually nothing is known about the behaviour of spins in a magnetic material after being excited on a timescale faster than that corresponding to the exchange interaction (10-100?fs), that is, in a non-adiabatic way. Here we use the element-specific technique X-ray magnetic circular dichroism to study spin reversal in GdFeCo that is optically excited on a timescale pertinent to the characteristic time of the exchange interaction between Gd and Fe spins. We unexpectedly find that the ultrafast spin reversal in this material, where spins are coupled antiferromagnetically, occurs by way of a transient ferromagnetic-like state. Following the optical excitation, the net magnetizations of the Gd and Fe sublattices rapidly collapse, switch their direction and rebuild their net magnetic moments at substantially different timescales; the net magnetic moment of the Gd sublattice is found to reverse within 1.5 picoseconds, which is substantially slower than the Fe reversal time of 300 femtoseconds. Consequently, a transient state characterized by a temporary parallel alignment of the net Gd and Fe moments emerges, despite their ground-state antiferromagnetic coupling. These surprising observations, supported by atomistic simulations, provide a concept for the possibility of manipulating magnetic order on the timescale of the exchange interaction.     

Single-shot read-out of an individual electron spin in a quantum dot

Spin is a fundamental property of all elementary particles. Classically it can be viewed as a tiny magnetic moment, but a measurement of an electron spin along the direction of an external magnetic field can have only two outcomes: parallel or anti-parallel to the field. This discreteness reflects the quantum mechanical nature of spin. Ensembles of many spins have found diverse applications ranging from magnetic resonance imaging to magneto-electronic devices, while individual spins are considered as carriers for quantum information. Read-out of single spin states has been achieved using optical techniques, and is within reach of magnetic resonance force microscopy. However, electrical read-out of single spins has so far remained elusive. Here we demonstrate electrical single-shot measurement of the state of an individual electron spin in a semiconductor quantum dot. We use spin-to-charge conversion of a single electron confined in the dot, and detect the single-electron charge using a quantum point contact; the spin measurement visibility is approximately 65%. Furthermore, we observe very long single-spin energy relaxation times (up to approximately 0.85 ms at a magnetic field of 8 T), which are encouraging for the use of electron spins as carriers of quantum information.