Periodic Reporting for period 3 - IMAGINE (Non-Invasive Imaging of Nanoscale Electronic Transport)
Période du rapport: 2022-10-01 au 2024-03-31
The goal of this project is to implement a sensitive magnetic microscopy technique that can directly image the current distribution in nanostructures with sub-50-nm spatial resolution. Our approach is based on the recent technique of scanning diamond magnetometry, a scanned-probe method that utilizes a single spin in a diamond tip as a high-resolution sensor of magnetic field. Scanning diamond magnetometry exploits quantum metrology to achieve very high sensitivities, and has recently enabled a breakthrough in the passive analysis of magnetic surfaces. Our project has three overall objectives: (i) Lay the instrumental and conceptual groundwork required for imaging tiny (nanoampere) current variations in two-dimensional conductors. (ii) Demonstrate imaging of a variety of mesoscopic transport features on a well-established model system: Mono- and bilayer graphene. (iii) Explore the potential of our technique for probing electronic properties beyond transport, like phase transitions and photoexcitation.
Together, our experiments are designed to establish a powerful new technology for imaging current distributions non-invasively and with nanometer spatial resolution. This capability will provide the unique opportunity for directly looking at electronic transport in nanostructures, with a potentially transformative impact on condensed matter physics, materials science and electrical engineering.
In the second part of the project we will shift the focus from technical demonstrations to the physics of nanoscale transport, including features of hydrodynamic and ballistic transport, effects of magnetic field, and influence of device edges. Further, we will use some of the knowledge gained to study magnetotransport in the context of spintronic devices.