Dresden 2014 – scientific programme
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HL: Fachverband Halbleiterphysik
HL 18: Carbon: Diamond, nanotubes and Buckyballs
HL 18.6: Talk
Monday, March 31, 2014, 16:15–16:30, POT 112
Ultrasensitive force detection with a nanotube mechanical resonator — Joel Moser1,2, •Johannes Güttinger1,2, Alexander Eichler1,2, Maria Jose Esplandiu2, Dong E. Liu3, and Mark I. Dykman3 — 1ICFO, Av. Carl Friedrich Gauss, 08860 Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain — 2ICN, CIN2-CSIC, Campus UAB, 08193 Barcelona, Spain — 3Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, Michigan 48824, USA
Since the advent of atomic force microscopy, mechanical resonators have been used to study a wide variety of phenomena, such as the dynamics of individual electron spins, persistent currents in normal metal rings, and the Casimir force. Key to these experiments is the ability to measure weak forces. Here, we present force sensing experiments with a sensitivity of 12 zN Hz−1/2 at a temperature of 1.2 K using a resonator made of a carbon nanotube [1]. An ultra-sensitive method based on cross-correlated electrical noise measurements, in combination with parametric downconversion, is used to detect the low-amplitude vibrations of the nanotube induced by weak forces. The force sensitivity is quantified by applying a known capacitive force. This detection method also allows us to measure the Brownian vibrations of the nanotube down to cryogenic temperatures. Force sensing with nanotube resonators offers new opportunities for detecting and manipulating individual nuclear spins as well as for magnetometry measurements.
[1] J. Moser et.al. Nature Nanotechnology 8, 493 (2013)