The research and commercialization of nanotechnology-based products require continuous development of advanced nanoscale inspection tools that drive the high-resolution microscopy markets. The existing microscopy tools provide a broad range of physical, spectroscopic, and materials characterization means, however, one important deficient ingredient is nanoscale thermal imaging – an essential tool for failure analysis and characterization of local heating and energy loss sources in high-density electronic nanodevices under operational conditions. The goal of this project was to provide a proof of concept for a ground-breaking nanoscale cryogenic thermal sensor and high-resolution scanning imaging system. In this project we attained a major breakthrough by developing a superconducting quantum interference (SQUID) nano-thermometer residing on the apex of a sharp quartz tip which provides non-contact non-invasive low-temperature scanning nanoscale thermal microscopy. This novel technique is revolutionary in three aspects: the first-ever cryogenic thermal imaging; improvement of thermal sensitivity by four orders of magnitude over the state of the art room-temperature thermal imaging reaching sensitivity of below one micro Kelvin; and scanning-gate thermal spectroscopy which can unveil the inelastic scattering spectrum of individual localized electronic states. The unique abilities of this technique were established by thermal imaging at extremely low power dissipation levels below the Landauer dissipation limit for continuous computation of a single qubit. Imaging of changes in dissipation due to single electron charging of individual quantum dots in carbon nanotubes was demonstrated, and a novel dissipation mechanism due to atomic defects forming localized resonant states at the edges of encapsulated graphene was revealed for the first time. These groundbreaking achievements establish a new exciting discipline of nanoscale cryogenic dissipation microscopy allowing investigation of quantum systems and novel states of matter. Concrete steps towards possible commercialization of this powerful technology have been taken involving industrial partners.
